Well if you include the Gnostic gospels, Jesus was portrayed as very progressive for that time period and there were more than just 12 apostles, and many of them were women.
However, the way Christianity is practiced, none of those ideas really ever made it pst the editing and organizing of what went into the bible
If Jesus ever realy exited, then yes he tried to make women mor eequal,but his followers wouldn't have any of that..