I think feminism had an easy time gaining acceptance and avoiding questions and criticism, is because men actually love women a lot, and it's their nature to want to do the things that women say will make women happy. Men didn't just build civilization, they built in many comforts for women: sex segregated restrooms, department stores with sex segregated fitting rooms, WNBA & women's soccer teams, and inventing time-saving household appliances.

Women were easy for feminists to persuade for different reasons. Young women, historically, tend to move into the husband's family/turf, and ability to fit in with the group is useful. Young women don't like to question what their friend group is doing, as it's too easy to face social isolation. Once appearances in the media of feminists became common, I think a lot of women got the impression feminist ideas were popular, and kept quiet out, feeling themselves to be in the minority.