One of my favourite philosophers today, Janet Radcliffe Richards has written a short essay on just this subject. She's a feminist with quite a bite.

http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/people/fuller/Richards.htm

I think we have to have permanent affirmative action that gives women greater rights than men, if we ever want equality between the sexes. I base this simply on the fact that women in general have less testosterone than men in general and will therefore always be less aggressive.

I think that given the same situation, women will in general always be more likely to cede than a man and will therefore always get less. Women have less issues with dumb ass pride than men, which also will make them less likely to stand their ground.

I think it's genetic more than cultural. But not inevitable. I think we can master our genetic programming to shape this world like we want it.