What's the deal with history???

Throughout history classes, the leaders that are revered and brought to our attention all seem to be men, especially nationals.  Is there underlying nationalism sparking sexism in history classes?  Think about it.  How often do we learn all about Elizabeth of England, Joan of Arc of France, Catherine the Great of Russia, Wu Zetian of China, Theodora of Byzantium, Maria Theresa of Austria, etc?  These people were rulers of great nations and yet they are not talked about, we learn instead about Winston Churchill, Gandhi, the presidents of our own nation.  I know that American history classes generally don't explore other nations beyond how they were used by ours, but seriously, so many great leaders of nations have been women and people, even today, act as though a woman as president of our country is and always has been unheard of.  There are nations right now that have female rulers who do an excellent job.  So why are we only ever teaching high school kids to acknowledge male rulers?  I think this is just another of the numerous little things bogging progress down.