I absolutely agree that men and women need to participate equally in the government and life of the Church - that the sacerdotal function should be separated from the system of governance.  The system that combines the two is a holdover from a time when, to be educated, one had to be a cleric, or at least a religious, a system that continued even after the Protestant Deformation.  Even the ability to read was hardly to be found until the Church began schools for the poor.  
I don't advocate for priestesses (which I think should hardly surprise anyone), but I'm in full agreement that lay women and men, well-grounded in the nature and mission of the Church, should be a part of both some level of governance as well as pursuing their mission in the world as laity.