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Before I answer seriously, I feel that I must, for the sake of posterity, cry out in outrage that "They do not like The Hobbit?! What is wrong with them???" I must also, again for that pesky posterity, begin with "Tolkien wasn't sexist." And if he was, I don't care because his books kicked donkey. The End.
1) what these women are talking about?
I agree with tar-ancalime about the lack of accessibility. The Hobbit is very much a book about boys that would appeal very much to boys: a bunch of male Dwarves show up to a male hobbit's house under the influence of a male wizard. They then proceed to go travelling, meeting up with male Elves, male goblins, male Gollum, male Beorn, male Men, and there's a war full of males fighting. There is the slaying of a dragon (by a man) and then Bilbo eventually makes his way home in the company of that pesky male wizard. There's not even the traditional beautifully pedistal-placed woman that somebody or everybody somehow loves. No fiesty heroine, no lover, no goddess... pretty much the only "woman" in The Hobbit is Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, and we all know how those Sackville-Bagginses are viewed. To a group of women that may not be all together enthusiastic about adventure stories in the first place, they may likely also fail to be excited by a story that seems to show women in such a non-important and simply "annoying" light.
2) why you like the book, despite your being a woman?
I like... nope... strike that, incorporate "love" in place of it. I love The Hobbit because it isn't a typical novel that involves some bit of love. It's a children's story sure, but it isn't a Disney story spiced up with rated G romance or something. It doesn't need to have random girls included. The story shouldn't be seen as "it doesn't have girls", it should be seen as "it has boys". I am very fond of dragons and gold, and singing Elves (tra la la lally is canonical, it is!), and Dwarves and magic spells and Rings and Eagles. I loved how Gandalf "tricked" Beorn with the story-telling, and I loved Beorn's gruff responses. I enjoyed Bilbo's trolls and how they were vanquished.
The Hobbit is an afternoon's read for me. While when reading The Lord of the Rings, I feel that I am in the novel and tend to be touched by the more moving passages. It is an actual experience any time reading, and while I love that, there are times that I feel more like being a spectator. With The Hobbit, I tend to feel that I am floating above the action and laughing and groaning in all of the appropriate places without being too caught up in it. It is a fun adventure to enjoy on a rainy day. It is innocent fun with no sexual intrigues and no betrayals or pesky backstabbings. I like The Hobbit for the sheer childishness of it. Growing up with older brothers, I spent more time on adventures out of doors than I ever did playing house. The idea of a story that I can read and enjoy is like a trip down the overly-used memory lane: I remember slaying my own dragons as well as sword fights and Elves that just happened to inhabit my back yard. The Hobbit brings to mind the simpler times before boys became such a big part of life and thought.
3) how I can present The Hobbit in class in such a way as to engage those women who find it so unappealing?
Ah, the hard question. The first thing to do, I suppose, is to find out just what they are looking for in a book. Do you know, perchance?
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