Ask HN: Woman (34) trying to become a front-end developer – is this possible?

Hi all, I'm thinking of a rather radical change as far as my professional career's concerned. Until now I've been a language teacher and translator but for some time I've been trying to switch to programming. So far I've grasped some firm (I think) skills in HTML5 and CSS3 and basic in Bootstrap and Sass. Everything I know is self-taught. I've cut some layouts (just to practice) and I'm currently voluntarily working on a design actually to be put on the web. I totally realize that in order to be treated seriously on the market I need to learn JS, at least jQuery, but I feel I'd need somebody to help me with it in order to develop. To be blunt - where I am is the furthest I could go on my own. I'm a 34-years old woman and I'm afraid I'll be treated like some sort of a dinosaur in the programmers environment. E.g., last year I had an interview for a front-end developer internship led by people who were all about 10 years younger than me - a pretty devastating experience. And questions like: "How would you feel working in a male-only team?"... Basically everyone seems surprised that a person (and a woman) my age with no actual experience is trying to find a place to start from. I've got the impression that currently I'd have to be really good at programming to get a chance (obviously not the case) or just drop it and think of doing something else. So here are my questions: What do you think are the next steps I should take? Would you consider employing a person like me? How to find somebody who could help me with developing my skills? What else could I do to increase the chances of being hired?