Female introduces Hardy's 'foolish things' (7)
I believe the answer is:
follies
'foolish things' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'female introduces hardy's' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'fs' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'introduces' indicates putting letters inside.
'hardy' becomes 'ollie' (I've seen this before).
'fs' enclosing 'ollie' is 'FOLLIES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for follies that I've seen before include "Ornamental buildings with no practical purpose" , "Silly acts or ornamental buildings" , "Rash actions" , "Idiocies" .)