Exactly! In the US there was never a law prohibiting women from coal (or other types of) mining, but it was culturally prohibited and nobody would hire them. In 1965 President Johnson signed an executive order forbidding discrimination by race or sex for mines with Federal contracts. Just a few decades later there were 30,000 women in coal mining. They still faced extraordinary harassment and discrimination but this has slowly gotten at least somewhat better. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, "Today, women hold every type of job available in the mining industry, from general laborer to mining engineer in underground and surface mines, and coal metal and nonmetal mines."

Similar stories exist for things like the oil business. Excluding women from certain sectors and then complaining that there aren't that many women in them is just typical dude-bro "logic."

Great story!