No, you choose to interpret it as such. Maybe it was only women who applied or a man would be utterly useless in the job for physical reasons or . . .
Of course you can put a gloss on anything someone says but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a substantive contribution to the actual circumstances which apply for that time and place.
Women were banned from being priests in the Church of England before 1994. The same Church of England sends 26 bishops - until 2015, all men - to sit in the house of Lords.
Personally I have worked in a small company where the owner wouldn't have hired a woman regardless of ability.
Of course you can put a gloss on anything someone says but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a substantive contribution to the actual circumstances which apply for that time and place.