I have said this before and I will say it again. Regarding women wearing tefillin – if those very same women are properly fulfilling the mitzvos that they ARE obligated in, such as lighting candle, taking challah, and taharas hamishpacha, then I have no problem with them wearing tefillin if it is not assur. The problem with many so-called feminist Jews is that they do NOT want to do THEIR mitzvos, but rather the mitzvos that are obligatory on the men. They want to be counted in a minyan. Were they coming to shul three times a day every day (or even just on Shabbos) and davening properly before that? (Maybe for some women the answer is yes). They want to be called “rabbis.” If they are that dedicated to Torah as they claim to be, they would understand that just as a Kohein can only be a male descended from Aharon HaKohein, so too, can a rabbi only be a male who receives smicha from another male rabbi. That is what the Torah teaches. A woman who is really connected to the Torah would find an avenue that IS permissible to her, such as becoming a really excellent teacher of Judaic studies, as the job of a rabbi is first and foremost to transmit Torah to the next generation. She can also do the job that truly was dsigned for her by Hashem, and that is to bring up the next generation of Torah-observant Jews. But that is not what many of the feminists want. They are looking for the trappings of kovod that they perceive comes with the territory and title of “rabbi.” I don’t say this is true of all Jewish feminists, but I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and BOY was that ever the case. So I am a little suspect when I hear certain things nowadays in this area.
That being said, many women are way more qualified than many men to understand the nuances of Gemarah. Hashem did after all give us Bina Yesaira. Would the men here who believe women are not really able to understand the logic of Torah, also of the opinion that women should not become lawyers, because their grasp of legal concepts and logic might be weak???? Tell that to our new Secretary of State. Should they not become doctors (the world at large thought that for a long time)? Well B”H there are many female doctors today, many of them Orthodox Jewish women, who are very sensitive to the needs of their female patients.
I was taught that it is permissible for women to learn Gemarah, though not necessarily a recommended thing. Still, it is awfully nice for a fifth grade boy coming home from school, to be able to ask his mom for help with his Talmud homework, especially if daddy is not yet home from work, or is in the Beis Medrash himself. Though it is not realistic to expect any women to want or be able to do so, it should not be looked at askance if some can.