You should read up on the attitude to women of his time, in particular the attitude of men of Degas' class to the women he drew, who were mainly servants or of the lower classes. There is the notion of the 'male gaze' you should be aware of when looking at Degas' work. Google this and do some research about it.
Also, in later life, Degas' eyesight began to fade, so in order to be able to draw his ballerinas, he would make small clay models of them - and in order to get the anatomy of these right, he would actually put his hands on those young girls and feel their joints, ankles, muscles - if any artist did that today, he'd be arrested as a child molestor before you could say 'stretched canvas'. The times were very very different, and men with money could get away with a lot more when it came to young girls (and boys) who had no-one to speak for them.
I think you need to consider this before you go after Degas as a type of feminist artist - because he really wasn't.
