I have so much to say on this topic, but I cannot stress this enough. There has never, ever, EVER been a time where slavery was justified. No matter how normalized.
If your main character is portrayed as the pinnacle of grace and goodness, she would not befriend slave traders.
when male characters aren’t fleshed out, fans become surrogate authors to help. if a female character isn’t fleshed out, then that’s it. no reason to engage w her beyond parameters set by her author & fandom. sad that this thought killing tool is considered “literary criticism”