The protagonist, Tarl Cabot, is a modern (well, 1960s) man taken to a barbaric world. This dissonance with our modern mores drives some of the plot. It's a cruel world indeed, but I don't think that any of the cruelty does not have a historical analogue. Who gets it worse is up for debate, with female slaves often employed sexually while male slaves being worked to death or treated as fodder in war. This isn't completely fair as women do hold positions of power within the stratified society and both men and women are enslaved. The general objection is to the very patriarchal structure of Gorean society and the demands that women be subservient.
It's been a long time since I read any books in this series (at an age when I probably shouldn't have), so my memory is of other volumes is suspect, but this first entry is actually quite tame in comparison to certain modern, popular works written by women.
I would describe this series as a science-fiction swords and sandals and slave-girls adventure, so perhaps he has something going for that accusation. In the 90s, the author claimed that the loss of his publishing deal was due to feminist influences in the publishing industry.
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