This subject is complicated, because, as others have said, it's not just a problem of women being discriminated against or underrepresented in racing. It's a problem with cycling generating the same kind of interest as let's say baseball (the only other sport I know something about). A couple of months ago, Nicole Freedman, the "bike czar" for the city of Boston spoke to my club. Most of the other listeners were shocked when she told her story of the conditions she lived under and how little money she made in her time as a pro/Cat 1 racer. We were not. Our former exchange student was a pro for 2 development level teams in Germany and last year rode for the Rite Aid team, based out of Philadelphia. He had to take a "break" from his crappy lifestyle last June and come "home" to stay with us for 2 weeks, before racing at Fitchburg. It wasn't just a vacation. Living in a cement square room, with hardly any money and no car was hard. He trained well and they liked him, but now that this was the third team that folded (their successor asked him back and he said no), he went back to Germany and started a business and was going to school part time. He's now going to be starting college at a state school in Colorado, where they are paying his whole way and living expenses to be on their cycling team. At age 24, he just couldn't take the financial chances that being a pro was asking of him. He didn't ride from September to March, because he was so emotionally upset over this. Since his business is on line and he has partners, he can continue it, while in school.
So, I can imagine how a woman would be treated. And, as Margo said, half of the recreational/fitness cyclists are women. Around here, it seems as if it's more than half. The industry needs to listen to us, because we are a huge group who have buying power.