You strongly imply that there is some kind of force being applied by Mormon men to make the women do the bidding and of the men, that they are just puppets not allowed to act on their own, and that is just not the way it is. If that is what you think then you are most certainly NOT familiar with out culture, practices, history or doctrine.
These women fully agreed of their own free will with the Church's stand on the ERA. If you don't feel that way it doesn't mean that they were forced to feel or act differently than you.
Now she had no role whatsoever in her husband's business, but it was just automatic that if he said he wanted her to go on the trip, then she was to drop all her other plans immediately and go.
So, you think that she should turn down a rare chance to share a bussness trip with her husband for a tennis tournament? Sounds to me like they have their priorities right, just because you don't share those priorities doesn't mean she was somehow forced. The fact that she was doing a wonderfully efficient job shows that she has not been kept from developing her talents and abilities, from pursueing personal interests etc.
it does look odd, and sometimes a bit ominous, to outsiders.
That's a shame, I feel sorry for those who feel that some kind of power strugle between the sexes is normal, and unity and cooperation is odd. Your comments tend toward fostering the idea that there is something ominous to it though. I trust you don't intend it to be taken that way.
No man leads in the Church without the consent of those men and women he leads. Women play an important and vital role in both the family and the Church. It is not at all accurate to state or imply that the women are repressed or excluded.