Conservative intellectuals and feminism: The Australian case

This article discusses conservative intellectual attitudes to feminism, with reference to the journal Quadrant. It is argued that a conspicuous failure to seriously address the issues raised by feminist writers is both short‐sighted and self‐defeating, since such issues are not as compartmentalized as Australian conservative intellectuals appear to think. Contrasting attitudes to feminism are explored with reference to the respective approaches of conservative writers, John Carroll and Ronald Conway. While this comparison reveals that it is possible for conservatism and feminism to co‐exist, it is shown that Conway is almost alone among Quadrant intellectuals in appreciating this.