I'm not saying that manufacturers need to build "women specific" bikes, but by building bikes that are physically too large for the average woman to comfortably ride, they are missing a big potential customer base. They are even missing plenty of sales to shorter men. I have known many women who ride and most of them have had issues with the size of motorcycles. I remember when my Wife first started riding. Being 5'2", there weren't a lot of bikes she fit on. Luckily for her, she likes cruiser styled bikes so there were a few more options. After starting on a 535 Virago she wanted to step up after 2 seasons. We sat her on every bike at the bike show that year and there were only 2 non-starter bikes that she could even reach the foot pegs on, the Suzuki Intruder 800 and 1400. Both of those bikes had mid-controls while everything else had the forward controls. She ended up taking over my Virago 1100 and with it's 26" seat height and narrow section at the front of the tank she could get her feet down. Everything else that fit her at the time was beginner bikes like the Savage or the VLX600. I have a friend who at 5' even needs high-heeled boots and a lowering kit to ride a Shadow 750.
I've known tiny guys who muscle around the biggest bikes on the road. I used to ride with a guy who was 5'1" and rode an Ultra Classic, but when he put his foot down he was on an awful angle. Even I find the biggest cruisers uncomfortably wide. I have to do stretches to get my legs open wide enough to straddle a Voyager 1700! I've ridden just about everything on the road on either a demo or swapping with a buddy, Goldwings to Vstroms and SS bikes and I really don't like having to stretch to get my toes down on the ground or hang off the side of the bike like I did on the Vstrom. Back when I started riding, there were tonnes of bikes that had 31" seat heights, most SS bikes included. Nowadays lots of naked/standard bikes with 32+" seat heights. ADV bikes have 33-36" seat heights. An inch or two can make a big difference (and don't bother making a joke, it's low hanging fruit!).
A friend of mine is an instructor at the Durham College motorcycle course. He'll tell you that every year a larger percentage of those attending are women.