The transformation of Stella Allan: from soapbox socialist to conservative women's page editor.

This article examines the influences that transformed young New Zea-landjournalist Stella Allan (1871-1962) from a committed socialist and feminist to a conservative establishment figure who edited the women's pages of the Melbourne Argus for three decades. It considers the stultifying effects of women's page journalism and the influence of a notably conservative paper on her social and political views. It also uncovers biographical information pointing out social and gender pressures at the beginning of the 20th century that led her to conform to the conservative views of her husband, an Oxford-educated former Foreign Office diplomat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]