I'm merely a layperson, but think the major reasons lie in Hebrew traditions developed in the early church (read Acts), and mens' two-millennia fear that women might actually know something and could possibly put them to shame. There are smart women out there, just as with we men, and they can learn, grow, and assimilate God's Word just as ably, in my opinion. It was originally the Hebrews who, perhaps at God's direction, who seemed to think women (perhaps due to Eve's transgression?) were to be submissive to their men-folk, and that tradition has died very hard, as we still see today. I know of several talented women in the business world, and have heard one lady preacher sermonize, and never had a problem with her, so don't know why the continued resistance aside from the fact we humans resist change.

Brett, you need to put yourself in the sandals of people living in neolithic times who had no notion of afterlife, so their values were quite materialistic and this worldly.  In fact, their wealth consisted in their herds and their children, so females were valued for their ability to deliver babies.  This mentality led to the disregard for women who appeared sterile and for postmenopausal women (although we certainly know a great deal more now about the situation.) Note, I am speaking of male-dominant societies.

As a result, females were valued for their ability to breed. I refer to the work of Maria Gimbutas. You will find an entirely different approach to the topic there. If you begin with your approach, you would need to state your basic philosophical approach.  For instance, if you believe the world is only a few thousand years old, as some religious believers posit, then you need to state that so the reader knows your starting point. That is why I asked about the theoretical foundation to be used. The theoretical foundation will say a great deal about the approach that the author will take.

Maybe I misunderstood the intent of this paper. How far back are you going in history, Velvet? Did I project incorrectly my own interests onto your subject?

I apologize, Violet. I did not remember your name correctly. You did say you were going back to ancient times.