women's biblical role

"this is an especially important point to keep in mind when considering women's religious life in ancient israel and judah. the yahwistic cult, as it is presented in the bible, is one that was almost exclusively in the hands of men. despite certain evidence to the contrary...the reality for women was that opportunities for spiritual expression within the biblical tradition were sparse. there was little choice for a woman who wished to participate fully in a religious life but to avail herself of ritual behaviors that thrived outside the priestly and prophetic purview. when read in this light, poems like isa. 1:21-23 and especially 57:3, 6-13 serve not so much as evidence of female apostasy, but as testimony to the fact that the heavily male orientation of biblical religion forced many women to seek spiritual fulfillment elsewhere."

--from women's bible commentary: with apocrypha, edited by carol newsom and sharon ringe

is it any wonder many people have asserted that "christianity is not a religion for women"?