Fox News hires attractive women to serve as props, so it isn't a surprise that Ailes viewed them as props.
The role of the attractive women on Fox is to be submissive to their male colleagues or their male guests if and only if those males are conservatives. If the males are liberal the women undercut them and attack them. It is a truly wonderful strategy from a propaganda standpoint because it serves to validate the self-perceptions of aging conservatives that are increasingly uncomfortable with change and simultaneously dealing with their own declining sexual virility.
If you don't believe me watch the interactions Carlson and Kelly have with conservative versus liberal guests. Both are very intelligent but demure to men regularly, Carlson in particular was just a prop on the morning show until a liberal was being addressed.