Are conservatism and feminism mutually exclusive? A study of ‘feminist conservatives’ and their substantive representation in Belgium

Research on gender and politics has long supported the idea that conservatism and feminism do not abide well (Beckwith & Cowell-Meyers 2007; Banaszak, Beckwith & Rucht 2003; Ortbals 2008). Much of this research adopts an ‘elite perspective’: it studies the relationship between feminism and conservatism by looking at the activities of conservative parties in government and parliament. At the same time, however, we know little about how citizens measure out conservatism and feminism. Based on the 2009 PARTIREP election survey in Belgium, this paper studies the relationship between conservatism and feminism from an elite and a citizen perspective. More precisely, we compare the extent to which a feminist conservatism drives political citizens and elites. The data show that a reasonable segment of the electorate in Belgium does claim to be conservative and feminist. This begs the question, first, whether conservative feminist citizens prioritize their feminist or their conservative values when casting their vote, and respectively vote for leftist or rightist parties. Second, if conservative feminist citizens vote conservative, do the conservative MPs also share their feminist values? If not, the party of their choice frustrates their feminist values, resulting in an underrepresentation of the interests of ‘feminist conservatives’ by political elites.