It seems to me that if attendees at local wordcamps didn't find value from circuit speakers that they wouldn't attend. It just shouldn't be at the cost of presentation resources for more local presenters.

I think that the perception that "women need more help" might be more an indicator that the WordPress community is more welcoming to less "traditional" community members than others, not necessarily that women need more help. And really, how does that sound when the community diversifies beyond gender and "people of this-or-that level of melanin need more help" ?

While I recognize that being a helper comes with the best of intentions, personally, I tend to avoid gatherings where my presence is viewed as a cry for help rather than as a collaborative learning peer. Not because helping isn't of value to others, it just doesn't work for me.

Kudos to you for braving a difficult topic :)