Being a clean slate you are in a good position to learn good shooting skills without the bad habits. I also believe that woman have an advantage of steadier & more sensitive hands. I think revolvers make for the best teachers & a good 22 and a model 10 (4") 38special would be great starter guns for you. Hold off on the +p & hot loads for a while. If/when some macho man tries to get you to shoot his 44mag or X frame 500 howitzer, just say "no thank you". Good luck. If you decide to try a big magnum, (which is the best way to learn to flinch) just load 1 bullet at a time to start with.