A question of authenticity

An issue has been raised regarding one of the aspects of the world some of my players don't like and I'm uncertain what to do about it. The world that the game is set in is a world of heroes and magic, mad science and ultra powerful, albeit steam powered, technology. Despite this, I'm struggling to keep very human and realistic issues present in the world and it seems be impacting the happiness of at least one, perhaps two of my players. The time period is 1847, and even in the alternative timeline of the world of steam and sorcery, there are a number of things that remain the same. One of these is the view of women in varying societies throughout the world. First, as a disclaimer, don't misunderstand my intentions. I'm a sociologist and a Marxist. I abhor gender inequality (all inequality actually) with every fiber of my being. I'm a feminist, and I'm a guy. But to me, issues of racism, sexism, and class struggle make for unbelievably great stories and create very real issues for characters to deal with. In my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying campaign, these issues were apparent, and included another of my pet peeves--religious zealotry. In the current adventure, the PC's had to go into an aristocrats club in Munich, and were immediately separated based on gender. The women were taken to a salon where they read poetry, and the males were taken to a smoking room. Everyone was there to try and gain some information. The women used a number of social rolls and a great deal of time to gain some information, and the male character bribed the bartender in the club. The information gained was virtually identical, yet to my female players it seemed as if the male character got this information easier. In the post game discussion, both of the female players (who also happen to play the only female characters) indicated their frustration (and in truth, did so during the game as well, much to my irritation) and one of them explained that, had they known the world was so misogynistic, she would have played male characters.

I understand their frustration. Originally conceived, the world wasn't supposed to have gender stratification in such an in-your-face way, but as I wrote the adventures, I found myself moving in that direction to create an engaging game. The role that gender plays was not explained to them, and I tried to help them understand how I saw it. The fact of the matter is that among common folk, both in my world and in the historical, women and men of lower social status were generally of equal status. Putting aside the idea of the breadwinner/homemaker model of the 1950-1960's, women have in some way always worked outside of the home. Like today, poor families of the Victorian era needed money to live on too, and often times the wife found a suitable occupation of some sort, be it mending clothing, laundry, or some such. Granted, these were domestic task, but even among those who chose not to have such an occupation, factory jobs were available for women. Among the aristocracy, economic issues such as starvation and impoverishment were not present (overall), and there was an expectation that wives be demure and educated rather than employed. I understand the desire for authenticity in a game (even one based of in the fringes of a theoretical scientific schema long dead), but I also understand that no one wants to be subjected to oppression in a game. So, which is the better route? Authenticity that angers and alienates players, or the happiness of the players at the expense of interesting role-playing situations?