Magic: The Great Equalizer

I have a setting idea that I think solves some of the gender issues that RPGs struggle with by virtue of being attached to medieval society. It seems that either RPGs treat women historically (i.e. poorly) or they present some kind of idealized world where people are equal just because they are designed that way. There is no compelling justification. So I think I figured out a way to solve that, or at least mitigate it a bit.

One thing I have noticed since having kids is that there are pretty good reasons why male and female division of labor occured in human society the way that it did in our history. Raising kids is.... fucking hard. And women seem to naturally be more nurturing of the children than men do. So it makes sense that initially you would see a division of labor along gender lines. Of course, the consequence of this is that over time women get marginalized and men accrue an unfair advantage.

So if you have a fantasy world that makes men and women equal, but you don't change any of the factors to be different from the real world, it seems contrived. That's why a lot of people (exclusively men in my experience) choose to run their game with a strong gender bias. But what if you had a reason that broke the historical mold and allowed women to be equal to men?

Magic has a history of being sexist. Male magic users run the gamut from good to evil, wild to scholarly. Female magic users are almost always evil, seductive, and/or wild. Even when people make an effort to be balanced, it often still tilts a bit against women. The most powerful female magic user in Faerun is the Simbul. She is Elminster's lover, has wild crazy hair that flies every which way, and she is prone to wild berserker rages. The 3e FR setting book says "Even in her realm of Aglarond, people fear her, avoid her, and think her insane". Hardly a fair equivilant of Elminster or Tzass Tam who are both presented as calm geniuses.

But what if you took magic away from men? What if all women could do a few cantrips, just as a natural ability? What if magic only worked for women, they had the gift, they had all the magical power?

You could limit the magic so that it would not give women the power to lord over men. Reversing the flow of sexism may be temporarily satisfying, but it is ultimately shallow. But it could prove as an equalizing force. Women could remain fairly domestic, tending to the home with their cantrips, providing care for the children, but the magic power would prevent them from becoming marginalized. They could form lodges or societies for the study of magic, as their own antipode to the male power structure. And politically, they would have equal say. And they would have a compelling reason to adventure.

What do you think? A fair solution?