Is gender a useful category for understanding the experiences of immigrants in France?

Résumé du document

An analysis based on the gender category consists in distinguishing women and men in their experiences, in order to find out whether there are noteworthy differences between them. Within the particular framework of immigration in France, it is a remarkable fact that only a minority of writers have focused on gender in their surveys, particularly when they are militants, or when they deal with a subject that obviously distinguishes women and men, such as, for instance the headscarf controversy. However, it is undeniable that using gender for understanding the experiences of immigrants in France could bring to light interesting aspects, even if they seem less noteworthy or prone to controversy than others. Most reasons for women's coming to France are unlike that of immigration of men. Women immigrate for family reunification, whereas men often migrate to France as immigrant workers. Thus, the next question that arises is related to the extent to which experiences of immigrants in France have been determined by gender.

Extraits

[...] The proportion of women who speak little or no French is higher than that of men, and the proportion of women who learned French at school is lower. However, the gap should not be exaggerated. The real advantage of men concerning education is just that they have had the possibility to learn French faster than women inasmuch they have been employed before, and they have learnt some French at work.[22] As soon as most children of first-generation immigrants went to school, boys and girls have benefited of education. [...]

[...] Moreover, this convention and the French-moroccan bilateral convention have tightened the rules concerning children keeping[11] by the mothers, and the fact that the husband is, in most cases, the conjoint who is in the best legal, social and economical situation, accounts for a disadvantage for women in case of separation. One notes that for French nationals, the children keeping is very often given to the mother. Thus, immigrant women suffer through a double discrimination (as women and immigrants) in light of French Law and conventions of French State with some countries of origin of these women. Concerning nationality and citizenship, it is arguable that the experience of immigration in France is determined upon gender. [...]

[...] One can note, indeed, the extent to which justifications for the presence of immigrant women in France is restricted to and “mother status. First, concerning the residence permits, one can note that the status of immigrant women is very linked to that of their spouses. For instance, a spouse of a European from the European Union has, in France, the same rights than a European woman. In addition, in case of divorce or widowhood in the year following the family reunification, the ex- spouse can be deprived of residence permit renewal[2]. [...]

[...] Likewise, fearing to be taxed with intolerance or even racism, almost none feminist group had dared to oppose men and women's interests among Muslims[20] before putes, ni soumises'. Education and employment are the last fields that one will analyse in order to know whether experiences of immigrants in France are gendered. A first aspect is competence in French. A survey of 1992[21] found a close correlation between the length of settlement of immigrants and their abilities in French. Thus, women are, in most cases, disadvantaged compared to men, especially among North African immigrants. [...]

[...] Freedman, p http://rafjire.free.fr INSEE Freedman, p http://www.vie-publique.fr/documents-vp/circulaire_polygamie_2000.shtml Freedman, p.13 http://www.ordre-avocats- cassation.fr/fichiers/Rapport%20s%E9ance%206%20-%20VALDELIEVRE.doc https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/editorial/francais/familles/bilat/convfral g.html https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/editorial/francais/familles/bilat/convfrma r.html Marie Huret, L'école des mères L'Express, (12/04/2007) Hargreaves, p Yamina Benguigui, mères', Mémoires d'immigrés Insee Centre de Formation et de Recherche de l'Education Surveillée (CFRES), survey conducted in the late 1970s Hargreaves, p Munoz-Perez, F. and Tribalat, M. ‘Mariages d'étrangers et mariages mixtes en France' (1984), p. [...]