church ladies!

"[What the traditional view] boils down to is a patriarchal view of society. The male was created as the "ruler" (greek: kephale) who "exercises authority over" (authentein) a woman. The woman was created to "submit" (hypotassesthai) to the male's authority. Women, therefore, are to be "silent" in the church; they are not permitted to lead men (like the women in Ephesus were trying to do). An egalitarian view, by contrast, is theological. It sees the male as the "source" (kephale) of the female, whom God created "from him" to be his "partner." The divinely ordained relationship of male and female is therefore a mutually submissive one (hypotassesthai). Neither the male nor the female is to lead in a "domineering" (authentein) fashion (like the women in Ephesus were trying to do)."

This is taken wildly out of context from a book, Two Views on Women in Ministry edited by James R. Beck.

This statement is referring to 1 Timothy 2:11-15: 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. (ESV)

However, I must say that the second theological viewpoint feels like a breath of fresh air to me.

This whole thing reminded me of a thing that N.T. Wright wrote on women in the church. You can find it (here.)