Whoever tries to interpret this verse as historically obsolete principle, is merely trying to be a smart alec. As if he knew what it means to be equal between men and women.
By no means were the women in the Roman Empire so less educated that they were not to teach. What happened to Truth? Learning God's way? does it not also apply to women?
If a woman knows the truth and speak not, she would be playing the role of Satan, hindering others from the truth.
Now this verse applies with reason given in subsequent verses (1Ti 2:13-14). When concerning matters of authority. The head of the woman is the man. Wives are to submit to their husbands. (1 Corinthians 11:3)
Now I have heard many Christian wives would like to say "Sure, the husband is the head of the wife, but the wife is the husband's neck" This way the head is useless if the neck is not "in control". Dr. Stephen Tong brought an excellent contrast from the Bible: "A worthy woman is the crown of her husband" Proverbs 12:4. Therefore, only a fool would want to be a neck and not the crown.
Nonetheless, there are times when God raised the women to take over authority. Ergo, a contradiction? Not at all. Rather, it is only when the men despised the authority given them in the name of cowardice and indolence.
The church should be the light of the world. When the church couldn't even stand up when women are abused by their husbands, it would open the door for the "learned" pagans to promote feminism. Turning the divine order around, causing everyone to sink in the drunkenness of the fallen perception of fairness.
What about equality? Just as Christ is God, Christ is equal to God.
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It would have also presented a contradiction:
If it is true that women were less educated then and there, a better message would have been "to give women education", rather than the reasoning of the following verses.