Well stated Oh Prince! One other thing is, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it’s not just the older Alphas, or the more misogynistic newer wolves who may not want the status quo to change! As Catchmeifyoucan said, there are older females like Honey who aren’t entirely sure that THEY want too much change too soon either! Mary Jo was certainly willing to get in the ring in Silver Born though to be fair, while death may have been a risk, she actually knew her opponent didn’t really want to kill her too. Adam allowed the fight in a subtle way simply by not objecting to it, which he probably could have even in the poor position he was in with his pack, but by letting it happen, he actually gave female pack members the chance to continue the forward momentum if they really want to, without forcing it down anyone’s throat.
This is not a thing that can be easily dictated, and anyone who thinks it can be is probably fairly young in wolf years and even in human life experience. It needs to grow and develop organically, with some nurturing along the way, including some fertilizer and proper pruning. Bran can prune some of the worst abusers and offenders, but Alphas like Adam with Mercy by his side is helping to nurture the best behavior too.
Oh yeah, we shouldn’t forget that Bran is a very old wolf. We see him as pretty darn forward thinking, but I bet he’s not exactly positive HE wants things to change too much either. The fact that he’s allowing it to happen may just be all he can manage. My best guess is that he’s adopting a wait and see attitude, holding the option to act if and when it’s necessary.