Yawara and feminism

I talked about how I was getting a kick out of Yawara, but I didn't mention the one thing that was making it harder to get a kick out of it.  I am hardly a feminist, and I understand that this manga and anime take place in a different culture a couple decades ago, but come on.

From what I can tell, Yawara attends school, studies for college entrance exams, does all the cooking and cleaning, practices judo, and hones her passive-aggressive skills.  Her grandfather eats, invades her privacy, and manipulates her life (sort of from the shadows) mostly so he can get other people to buy him food.

One scene that made me genuinely mad included a few old men having a meeting in front of a TV several feet away.  When they wanted the volume turned up, they ordered the elderly wife of one of the men to turn the TV up even though she was further away and probably busy cooking or cleaning. 

My sister who taught in Japan confirmed that this last was not fiction and that it used to drive her and another teacher bonkers, to the point where they wouldn't even go to certain homes because they couldn't stand dealing with the chauvinistic crap.

I wonder if the girl who really did go on to win that gold medal in judo also attended school and did all the cooking and cleaning . . .  I can't think that's physically possible.

On the flip side, Yawara's mom leaves all the time to chase down her absentee husband when she probably should be cooking and cleaning and sitting on the grandfather.  That's independence, right?  Sort of?

So if this sort of casual, "traditional" Japanese male-dominance sends you clawing up the walls, you might not be able to enjoy Yawara as much, but there's still more I haven't seen, so maybe things change in the larger arc of the story.  (I am not holding my breath.)