I've had enough of this nonsense about 'muh based Orthodoxy'. The argument follows the same logic as 'muh based muslims.' I'll tell you right now the reason that Orthodoxy is perceived as much more conservative than Catholicism. It isn't Vatican II, nor is it some jewish infiltration conspiracy, and most importantly, it has nothing to do with actual doctrine. The reason the Orthodox Church is more conservative is because it operates in strictly conservative, by comparison, regions of the world. Orthodoxy spans eastern Europe, Greece, the Middle East, and Russia, with some also in Ethiopia. All of these regions are far more conservative than Western Europe, North America, and Latin America. An enormous percentage of Catholicism's followers live in the liberalized West. Therefore, the Catholic Church has toned down its conservative preaching in favor of a more liberal marketing in order to reach this liberal audience. Catholicism still hasn't changed any doctrine, Scripture, or theology whatsoever, they've merely had a handful of liberal clergy and general leadership in order to appeal to the less religious West. Orthodoxy doesn't have to market to a liberal audience as much because its entire populations are slavic, greek, or arab, and are conservative by cultural origin, not because of the religion itself.
I guarantee that if Orthodoxy was larger in the West, it would present itself to a more liberal audience as well. You can already see this with the more 'open-minded' Orthodox Churches in the US, with some priests even asking for the support of homosexuals, a far cry from this myth of 'the orthodox church spits on gays'.
To sum this up: Orthodoxy's conservatism is rooted in its geography, as is Catholicism's very recent liberalism due to its more universal audience. You should not be choosing your denomination from the perceived attitudes of 'muh based' Russians, Copts, and Greeks, but on the doctrine and theological arguments.