age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the
feminine ideals, or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the
masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly
balanced.

(J. E. Esslemont, "Baha'u'llah and the New Era", 5th rev. ed. (Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1987), p. 149) [25]

Extracts From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi:

26: If presented properly the position of women in the Baha'i teachings
will...

If presented properly the position of women in the Baha'i teachings will
surely attract much attention, for it is not only legal but also spiritual
and educational. Our ideals are so high and at the same time so
practicable that all other views will fall short if compared to them.

(7 January 1931 to the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma)
[26]

27: As regards your question concerning the membership of the Universal
House...

As regards your question concerning the membership of the Universal House
of Justice: there is a Tablet from 'Abdul-Baha in which He definitely
states that the membership of the Universal House is confined to men, and
that the wisdom of it will be fully revealed and appreciated in the
future. In the local as well as the national Houses of Justice, however,
women have the full right of membership. It is, therefore, only to the
International House that they cannot be elected. The Baha'is should accept
this statement of the Master in a spirit of deep faith, confident that
there is a divine guidance and wisdom behind it which will be gradually
unfolded to the eyes of the world.

(28 July 1936 to an individual believer) [27]

28: As regards the membership of the International House of Justice,...

As regards the membership of the International House of Justice,
'Abdu'l-Baha states in a Tablet that it is confined to men, and that the
wisdom of it will be revealed as manifest as the sun in the future. In any
case the believers should know that, as 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself has
explicitly stated that sexes are equal except in some cases, the exclusion
of women from the International House of Justice should not be surprising.
From the fact that there is no equality of functions between the sexes one
should not, however, infer that either sex is inherently superior or
inferior to the other, or that they are unequal in their rights.

(14 December 1940 to the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burm