I had a sociology professor who taught the concept of economic determinism which states that whatever people do will be determined on some level by the money. If subjugating women brings in the money for those who champion that idea then it will be so. If on the other hand those who like that idea always end up broke then no one will champion that idea. When I look at Bin Laden for example he was a rich dude who lost his fortune because of the west then he rallied supporters and raised a lot of cash by opposing the west. When I look at Imams they all have their supporters and they all raise money. They will advance any part of the religion that brings in the bucks.
I've lived in several Muslim countries in my life, and asked myself "what is the appeal of Islam". Malcolm X reasoned that Islam was the religion for dark-skin people. Personally, I think you must understand the genetic differences between cultures. All men are NOT created equal. Subtle, but substantial, changes that have occurred as man evolved evolved from the first wave of humans that came out of Africa. As each group settled into a particular area and environment, their body and brain adopted to the change. The most obvious change was skin color which changed according to how much sunshine vitamin D the body required.
Without getting into detail, our brains also changed. The brain changed so that humans could live in the nomadic existence of Saudi Arabia. It was much more important to follow tribal leaders without question, abstract thinking was fatal. People possessing that quality never lived to have children -Darwin at work.
Islam fit that into that kind of brain. That religion has 5 pillars which you must follow: Pray 5 times a day, go to the Mosque every Friday, etc. Easy. You don't have to figure out what the abstract parables meant that Jesus was talking about. Christianity doesn't fit their brain.
Even today, that evolved brain remains unchanged. They are willing to blindly follow a leader to defend Islam - just like the Arabic desert 1400 years ago. They are not suited to question if Islam is right or wrong, no matter what other Muslims do in the name of Allah.
Those are my observations.