We also need to realise that the apostles, in particular Paul , with his background and status in Judaism, originally would have viewed women as second class citizens. He would have had his own personal revelation from Christ about the greater equality between men and women, as compared to his Jewish counterparts or his former lifestyle as a Jew. So christian men can either treat their wives according to the original definition of submission, aka, Taliban-style, or they can allow them greater equality. The word submission then in the new testament and to the Christian, doesn't mean a Taliban-style submission "do as I say", but more a submission in love and obedience to the husband, both recognising that they come under the Headship of Christ. Thanks to women's rights in our western countries, most women do this OK already I think. Submit to the husband without it being a Taliban-style submittion, and at times the husband also needs to submit to the wife in "submit to one another", which is gender neutral.
This is a very interesting read.
http://www.frontline-apologetics.com/Women_Biblical_Times.html
According to Jewish rabbis, women were either incapable or inferior to the process of studying to learn. The Jewish law code known as the
Mishnah remarks: "may the words of Torah be burned [first five books of what we know to be the Bible], than that they should be handed over to women" (
Sota, 10a), and, "whoever teaches his daughter Torah teaches her obscenity" (
Sota, 21).
[1] The Gospels, however, record Jesus overturning this type of ideology. Jesus not only taught women, but, he even went so far as to commend a particular women for her learning over and against her sister who was carrying out traditional tasks (Lk 10:38-42). It is by that attitude, that, Jesus not only caused a stir outside of His circle, but, He also caused a stir within.
For instance, the writer of John hints at a moment of astonishment among Jesus’ disciples as they caught a glimpse of him interacting with a Samaritan woman of foreign origin. To Jesus’ own disciples, this interaction proved perplexing. Why? Because such interaction just didn’t happen. The writer of John notes, that, "they were surprised to see him talking to a woman;" yet, "not one of them [his disciples] said to him, What is your purpose? or, Why are you talking to her?
" (John 4:27, tr.
BBE). While Jesus’ disciples were marveling over what they saw, they missed the fact, that, to this woman, Jesus had just made his most explicit affirmation that he was the Messiah (See: Jn. 4:1-42).
Moreover, the Gospels as a whole present Jesus as a revolutionary. Jesus not only thought of women as being equal in rank with men as daughters of Abraham (Lk. 13: 10-17), but, He openly ministered to them as "children of wisdom" (Lk. 7:35-50) who deserve respect (Mt. 5:28). Jesus even went so far as to ignore all strictures of impurity prevalent at that time in order to heal a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years (Mk. 5:25). Some women, who were healed, even became apart of His inner circle of disciples (Lk. 8:1-3). Unsurprisingly, in Jesus’ final hours, it was to the "daughters of Jerusalem" (Luke 23:27-28) that He turned and spoke to while making his way to the place called "The Skull" (Lat.
Calvarius). While there are certainly other positive examples that could be brought to light, what can be gleaned from this overview, is, Jesus’ sensitivity toward women in era of insensitivity.