Religious Equality

There have been a few people who have approached me in the past concerning the Bible's seeming sexist view of women. These people, sadly were not familiar with the Bible and just assumed (among other things) that since Eve was created after Adam that, in God's eyes, Adam was more important. I've gone to great lenghts to help them see the Bible in a much more accurate light with some success. So, because I'm always on the look out for things of this nature to help people understand the roles of men and women better, I offer you this from Challies.com:

A few days ago a person sent a question to the Reformed Baptist mailing list. He recounted that he is teaching eighth graders and one young lady asked about Adam and Eve. This girl noted that after Adam named all of the animals and saw how they were paired, he realized that there was no counterpart to him. And so God created Eve as a helper to Adam. It seems, suggested the girl, that God created Eve only to serve as a partner to Adam in allowing him to procreate. It is almost as if women were an afterthought in God's mind. So why didn't God create man and woman together as He had done with the animals? Why did He introduce Eve in such a way that she seems primarily to serve her man?

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In Genesis 2:20 we read that "The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him." Previously, in verse 18, God has already said, "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him." While it makes a nice story to believe that Adam named all of the animals and then, noting that there was no helper suitable for him, felt loneliness, the Bible does not state this. Scripture tells us that it was God, not Adam, who noted "that it was not good that the man should be alone." We have no basis to assume that Adam was in any way lonely or that he felt any insufficiency. Adam lived in a perfect world and had perfect communion with God. Surely he did not feel any sense of loneliness. The person concluded, as do I, that Adam did not need Eve to fill some deep-rooted emptiness in his life, but that he needed a wife to fulfill his God-given mandate. Thus woman was not created to fill a social or sexual need in Adam, but to complete the Lord's purpose for humans. Eve was not needed to complete Adam, but to complete God's command to Adam.
So let's return to my claim that the Bible regards women in a way that is higher than other religions. The reason for this is obvious: the God who created us male and female, also prescribes created our roles. Only the Bible outlines the Creator's instruction to His creatures. We must understand that while God affirms equal worth, He speaks of differing roles. For example, women have the unique role and privilege of bearing children. Because they are physically weaker than men they have a need for support and protection, and this is a need God has commanded husbands to fill. God also establishes proper order in the family by assigning to men the job of headship in home and church.
One of the best (and most succinct) summaries of Scripture's position on women comes from the introduction to John MacArthur's upcoming book, Twelve Extraordinary Women (which, according to Amazon, is available for preorder and will ship on November 1). MacArthur makes several important points about women, some of which I am borrowing here.

Special Honor - While recognizing role disctinctions, the Bible sets women apart for special honor. A husband is commanded to live sacrificially and to value his wife's life higher than his own. Women are highly valued by God and are to receive this same value from men.

Due Distinction - The biblical accounts of the great men of the Old Testament consistently give distinction to their wives. Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel are only a few examples of women who play prominent roles in Scripture. Other women who are integral to the Bible are Eve, Miriam, Deborah and Ruth. We even find Wisdom personified as woman and the church being called the bride of Christ. God does not shy away from giving credit to women of faith and to using metaphors that require female imagery.

Religious Equality - Women were never excluded from the social and religious life in either the Old or New Testaments. Women participated in feasts and times of public worship. They were not required to be silent or to be hidden from sight behind veils. Jesus' group of disciples included several women, a practice almost unknown at the time. Over the past few days I have been reading Acts and I have seen time and again that women are given constant mention among the first converts and among those who played integral roles in the early church. One could almost argue that God goes out of His way to point to the importance of women in these situations.

Source. (emphasis mine)