unicate writes:
No, but that may indeed have been part of it. She may be more
comfortable with JUST Mary in the plane, or with a professional
instructor that isn't a personal friend so that she doesn't feel as self
conscious about doing something wrong.

Mxsmanic wrote:
That type of performance insecurity is more common in men than women.
Women are not expected to be good at "manly" things, so they are under
less pressure.

I completely disagree with that! When men make mistakes in the cockpit,
they are not apt to make an issue out of it, it is quietly discussed and
that's that; women are cut FAR less slack for those same mistakes. Huge
generalizing there, but IMO, the expectations and amount of pressure on
women are both far greater.

But a far simpler explanation is that she simply wasn't interested,
period.

That was probably the case. If not, she would have said something about
it after landing. She still may, if the invite to go fly arises again.