It’s my understanding that the Greek word for wives could also be translated to women in which case your plain reading hypothesis wouldn’t make much sense.

I’m not sure I’ve heard the argument that women shouldn’t hold offices of authority. Though, I am familiar with camps of people that don’t believe women should have teaching ability over men.

Those points aside, I think there’s a good argument to be made for the biblical elevation of female status comparatively. Genesis is the only creation story where women are also created in the image of God. The first people to declare the gospel were women.

I don’t really have a firm position on female leadership in the church, it’s something I’m still working through as a believer.