The next thing we need to look at is the context with which the letter was written. That is, the specific people it was written to and times it was written in. 1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul, to his young apprentice Timothy. At the time, Timothy was leading the church at Ephesus. When the letter was written, Ephesus had a big problem with the worship of a certain goddess named Artemis. Artemis was the goddess of fertility and was believed to be the source of life. The worship of the goddess encouraged giving women power over men to an unhealthy and abusive degree. Women played a huge role in the cultic practices in Ephesus. Keeping this in mind, I don’t think it’d be crazy to assume that Paul was attempting to overcorrect. I believe that he was trying to avoid giving the church in Ephesus any sort of temptation to fall into the worship of the goddess, and that since we don’t deal with that problem today women may be permitted to teach.
An unfortunate reality is that the Jews (and most other cultures) did not view women highly at all. Many go as far to say that women were not treated with much more dignity than animals during the Bible times. Women were viewed as inferior by nature. Although this is a sad reality of the time, and we see God “allowing” this view of women that doesn’t mean that God approved. In fact, God had quite the opposite view of women. We see this any time a woman is used by God. Esther, Deborah, and Priscilla to name a few.