It’s not that halacha changes with the times, but rather our interpretation of what the halacha actually sigifies, and whether in fact it is halacha or custom of a particular time and place. I am reminded of the story of a Din Torah where a wagon owner was brought to the BD by a client who had hireed him to transport some merchandise for him. The roads were treacherous,the wagon turned over, and all the items were smashed beyond repair. The wagonmaster denied responsibility for what was an accident but the BD was ready to rule in favor of the merchant. The BD told the wagonmaster that the Torah states that when one is hired to do a job, he must be very careful not to damage the goods.
The wagonmaster was very upset because he stood to lose a great deal of money. when he suddenly thought to ask the dayanim, “When exactly was the Torah given?” To which they replied on Shavuos, of course. “Oh,” said he, “you mean it was given when the weather was sunny and dry in the summertime??? Had it been given during a nasty winter season when the roads are snowy and slippery, perhaps the halacha would have been different!”
The point I am making should be obvious (not that the wagonmaster was correct, of course), that many factors need to be taken into consideration, as to how an interpretation of halacha is or should be made in a specific time and place. What seems so obvious at one time in history (women washing their husband’s feet), clearly is not necessarily shayach today. Most women do not sit at the spindle or loom anymore, either.
And although it is true that sometimes a husband has to be the final arbiter and decision maker regarding a specific inyan, likewise there will be times when it is the wife and wife alone who should be making that decision for them. A secure man is not threatened or upset by that, btw. And is it not halacha that a man should be mechabeid his wife more than himself??????? Or did I misunderstand what I was taught in Yeshivah, and that idea is merely meaningless lip service? Someone who truly honors his wife would not bully her.