Does Lankule propose any meaningfully progrssive options for the treatment of women with his 'modern' perspective?

I don't think any of them are meaningful. Lankule wants the village to be modern, and he wants to wed Sidi and make her a modern wife (though he believes women are naturally inferior to men). He is reluctant to participate in the ways of the village but is usually drawn into them regardless. He really has no intention of bettering the lives of women. He really just wants to "better" himself.