You seem to make the presumption that Melee is all I do. This would be incorrect. As I said before, Red Mage in and of itself is a highly versatile class. Healing sets, nuking sets, enfeebeling, enhancing, melee - I work on them all. A Red Mage is no less versatile than other mage Hybrids in this regard, with the standing exception of AoE power. The trade off for that, however, is how quickly a Red Mage can switch gears. I can show up to a group in Melee gear, but swap to healing or nuking instantly and not have to wait on a cooldown.
Also, your presumption an Red Mage's accessibility to effective Melee gear is a bit off. I can, with my current gear, hit all T1 Escha mobs just fine, and I wouldn't call myself decently geared yet. I'm currently below Carmine levels of Accuracy. I honestly don't seek to melee really past that point, with the exception of a few Tier 2s and potentially Sinister Reign. Most Red Mages don't, iirc. However, back on point: the situation isn't even remotely severe. I acknowledge that it exists, however. But it has never existed to the hyperbole players have pushed upon the class in the history in the game. And while our best gearing point poi of that was when Escha Sky, was the highest loot table, it's still quite favorable.
That said, when accuracy or danger in the front-line is too much of a trouble, I can hop to the back-line and assist there. Sadly that's not true for most classes that can Melee. Red Mage has the advantage of its extensive toolkit at its disposal.