memes

would it not be a less extreme change to their status quo to enslave women to work in their factories, paying them nothing, or only paying their male family members (fathers, husbands), than it would be to employ the women, pay them directly, and risk women having some level of agency?

To the second point, that's basically what happened in the West over the last hundred years. To simplify greatly and only look at 'middle class' White women, they were only able to work until marriage, and then following labour shortages were able to continue working while the husband would still maintain control of finances and women would often find it extremely difficult to open their own seperate bank account or obtain a loan.

As their education and labour power increased, political struggle was more effective until the system we have now (of some patriarchal financial control in some relationships but not codified and not generally supported in public).