“My Family’s Weight on My Shoulders”: Experiences of Jewish Immigrant Women from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Toronto

Marina Morgenshtern

doi:10.3390/socsci8030086

Abstract

In dominant western society, we tend to interpret the experiences of immigrant women as emancipation and liberation, rather than as the complex experiences of subjects acting within several hegemonic systems. While intersectional and transnational feminism led to questioning this view through the discussion of the challenges faced by immigrant women from developing countries, their counterparts from socialist countries have been largely ignored. To address this gap, this article focuses on the employment and social reproduction experiences of 11 white, professional, heterosexual, immigrant Jewish women from the former Soviet Union (FSU) who are now living in Toronto, Canada. The data used in this article was collected as part of a study on lived experiences of Jewish immigrant couples from FSU in Toronto. This study utilized intersectional feminist analysis as a theoretical framework and combined the qualitative methodologies of Testimonio and Oral History. This data suggests that, for these women, immigration had mixed outcomes. Although the material conditions of their lives may have changed, the traditional moral associations between femininity, domesticity, and maternity remained strong. Apparent heterosexual privilege both challenged and reinforced their subordination, in that it facilitated their access to Canadian education and professional jobs and promoted their social legitimacy/status, while also resulting in greater subordination at work and home where they had more tasks to fulfill than in premigration life. These findings challenge the monolithic representation of immigrant women’s experience and enhance our ability to generate a more comprehensive theory of those experiences.

Highlights

This paper problematizes the lived realities of white Jewish immigrant women from the former Soviet Union (FSU) as a response to historical oversight in relation to immigrant women’s experiences in immigration literature, as well as the current deficit with regard to the exploration of the experiences of immigrant women who come from a privileged race, class, and ethnic background
The material conditions of their lives may have changed, the traditional moral associations between femininity, domesticity, and maternity remained strong. Apparent heterosexual privilege both challenged and reinforced their subordination, in that it facilitated their access to Canadian education and professional jobs and promoted their social legitimacy/status, while resulting in greater subordination at work and home where they had more tasks to fulfill than in premigration life
This study provided additional evidence of the employment challenges faced by this group of immigrants as a result of Canadian accreditation policies, lack of Canadian experience, and limited English proficiency, as well as their downward occupational trajectories and/or upgraded educational credentials

Summary

Introduction

This paper problematizes the lived realities of white Jewish immigrant women from the FSU as a response to historical oversight in relation to immigrant women’s experiences in immigration literature, as well as the current deficit with regard to the exploration of the experiences of immigrant women who come from a privileged race, class, and ethnic background. Much of the migration scholarship of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s was focused on immigrant men, who were seen as risk takers, achievers, and subjects capable of and willing to assimilate into the role of ‘Western man’ Women were either ignored in the theoretical discussion of migration or dichotomized as dependent guardians of stability (Dion and Dion 2001). Feminist scholars of the 1980s were the first to draw academic, professional, and public attention to gender in the discussion of immigration and to highlight the impact of the exclusion of immigrants as gendered subjects (Gabaccia 1991; Pedraza 1991; Tienda and Booth 1991). Feminist analysis of the power of gender ideology and the uncovering of how political and economic forces shaped women’s. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work 24: 44–55.

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