Promoting Equality? Gendered Messages in State Materials for New Immigrants

Abstract

This article explores immigration policies and the state materials distributed to new and potential immigrants in Canada, Sweden and The Netherlands, focusing specifically on how these important tools of socialization contribute to the regulation of gender roles and family life. Beyond conveying key messages about the host society, these materials are also often devised to offset a perceived threat from immigrant cultures. This is particularly apparent with regards to gender roles and family structures, in which women’s roles are often put forward as symbolic markers of the differences between immigrant and host cultures. Ultimately, this article argues that while all three of the case studies view themselves as models of equality and tolerance, they also impose specific culturally informed definitions of family and gender on new immigrants that rely heavily on essentialized notions of immigrant and host communities.