It was the case in the faith in which Jesus was born and raised.  It was the tradition of those who followed him and were the Apostles.  It think Jesus could only take things so far - and women could also only take things so far.  I also think that women probably played a greater role during the life of Jesus but it is written about by MML&J, all males, and the later writers - also all male - out of a male point of view.  It was also written decades after the death of Jesus and as the Church was forming, so it was written in a way that would make it possible to be taken seriously and written to make sense to those who would read it.  

The role of women in the world has changed dramatically and it is not going back.  Regardless of whether or not there were female religious leaders in the past, the social/cultural place of women today is not what it was in the past.  That affects not just the roles they have outside the Church, but also their roles inside the Church.