`Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel

On the Gender Aspects of Immigration

Larissa I. Remennick BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, immigration from the former Eastern Bloc countries to North America, Israel and Western Europe became a notable feature of East±West relations. So far, few studies have explored the problems of Russian and East European immigrant women in the course of their encounter with western or westernized societies. Their experiences are presumably quite distinct from those of Third World women (Buijs, 1993), given their different background ± in particular, their higher education and universal participation in the labour force of the former socialist countries. At the same time, immigrant women of any origin may experience a similar set of problems due to their downward occupational and social mobility (Segura, 1996; Raijman and Semyonov, 1997). This article explores the intersection of immigration and gender, based on the experiences of women who moved to Israel from the former Soviet Union (FSU) with the immigration wave of the early 1990s. Among some 750,000 Soviet-Jewish immigrants, over 200,000 are women between the ages of 20 and 50 (IMIA, 1998), i.e. the period of life when economic, sexual and childbearing activities all peak and overlap. Beside the problems of physical and psychosocial adjustment common to both sexes, women face an additional set of constraints evolving from cultural and normative differences in sexuality, fertility and family life, which are viewed in both countries as primarily feminine domains. In

The European Journal of Women's Studies Copyright # SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi), Vol. 6, 1999: 441±461 [1350-5068(199911)6:4;441±461;010244] 442 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4) most cultures, sexual and reproductive issues are seen as primarily moral, rendering such differences particularly potent in shaping the experiences of female newcomers. Additionally, the encounter between immigrants and the host society provides an opportunity to observe otherwise silenced features of the Israeli gender system. While local politics may be powerful enough to enforce, at least on the mass media, a relatively egalitarian gender discourse, the appearance of the `other' may trigger open manifestations of otherwise suppressed sexist views and actions. Immigrant experiences are often de®ned in terms of ethno-cultural retention vs change (integration or assimilation) (Foner, 1997). The studies in diverse immigrant communities, including those in Israel, indicate that the ®rst generation of adult migrants tends to preserve the culture and lifestyle of their home country, and integration begins only with the second generation (Markowitz, 1993a, 1993b; Chiswick, 1993; Foner, 1997). This phenomenon is fully applicable to sexuality and fertility, which are issues even more resistant to change than other facets of behaviour (Kahn, 1994; Sabatello, 1995; Remennick et al., 1995). Women from the FSU, who lived under a gender system of state socialism, are no exception to the rule. Hence, before turning to the experiences of these women in Israel, I provide a brief background on their life in the FSU.

WOMEN IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

Until very recently, the notion of gender itself, let alone gender studies, was an alien term in the Soviet cultural lexicon. The `woman's question' under socialism was claimed to be settled once and for all, and the state turned a blind eye to the many bitter problems experienced by women in both the domestic and public realms. In practice, Soviet-type `emancipation and equality' meant that gender divisions ceased to exist and women were treated by the state as badly as men: doing the same hard work for equally low salaries, similarly abused by state and party bureaucrats, getting equally miserable health care provision insensitive to their needs, and so on (Voronina, 1994; Buckley, 1997). Despite universal access to higher education and employment, the invisible partitions between male and female occupations still existed in the white-collar domain. As elsewhere, the feminization of certain occupational niches (such as health care and education) caused a gradual decrease in their status and prestige. Although the educational level of Soviet women was somewhat higher than that of men, their careers typically ended in the lower or middle tiers of the professional pyramid. Few political and administrative posts were held by women, and usually only by virtue of token representation (Voronina, 1994; Khotkina, 1994). Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 443

This all points to the complex and controversial nature of Soviet-type patriarchy. Re¯ecting the fundamental hypocrisy of the system, its carefully designed facade, that is its of®cially declared and promoted values, had little to do with the actual content of people's daily lives. Despite women's relative economic autonomy, the traditional Russian male dominance continued to ¯ourish under socialism, albeit in disguised and mutant forms. This was especially apparent in the realm of marriage and family life, which was far less affected by the emancipatory ideas than the labour market. While being an equal breadwinner, the average Soviet woman also carried out most of the household and childcare chores (Voronina, 1994). Yet, paradoxically, through this infamous double burden Soviet women gained a lot of power in the private domain. As a result of their harsh `training', women generally managed better than men within an unstable micro-economy (e.g. in `hunting' for food and other supplies). Additionally, women were often better at navigating Soviet bureaucracy and managed their family's contact with welfare, medical and other bodies. Their `know-how' put many women in a position of actual family head and decision-maker, while their male partners were rendered passive and dependent. For this reversal of gender roles in everyday life, a special Russian term was coined: `the infantilization of men' (Voronina, 1994). Given the central role of the family as a `shelter' from the omnipotent system, relatively early and almost universal marriage was a typical feature of the Soviet lifestyle. Many early marriages were induced by sexual urges seeking legitimation and/or by pregnancy. Unable to resist multiple internal and external pressures (low income, poor housing, male violence and alcoholism), Soviet families were increasingly unstable, with over one-third typically ending in divorce. Most divorces were initiated by women, whose relative economic independence enabled them to abandon unsatisfactory relationships (Maddock et al., 1994; Kon, 1995; Borisov and Sinelnikov, 1995). Despite their sociocultural diversity, most former Soviets shared con- servative views and emotional discomfort about sex. For years, sex had been a taboo subject in Soviet culture, science and education.2 As a result, most Soviets grew up ignorant of sexual matters, believing that sexuality was spontaneous and required no special knowledge or skill (Kon, 1995). Premarital sex was illicit (for women), but fairly common. Apart from normative constraints, an obstacle to premarital sex in the Soviet years was scarce housing and cohabitation with parents. Since most couples were unable to discuss sexual matters, contraceptive practice was incon- sistent, or absent. Combined with low fertility norms, this resulted in sky- high abortion rates, with severe implications for women's reproductive health and well-being (Remennick, 1993). 444 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4)

Since the 1970s, fertility in Russia was below the demographic replace- ment level, and during post-Communist years it has plummeted to 1.3 children per woman due to overall crisis and growing divorce rates. Some 16±18 percent of births annually are to unmarried mothers, which adds to the pool of single-parent families. Single motherhood has always been common in the FSU (in the past, due to wars and political purges targeted mostly at men, lately because of divorce rates), and it has generally existed in a tolerant social climate (Borisov and Sinelnikov, 1995). Among Jewish women, the proportion of the single and childless was higher than average (Tolts, 1997), probably re¯ecting higher marital assertiveness due to the above average education of Jewish women. As a result of the almost total secularization and cultural assimilation of the Soviet Jews, their mentality and lifestyle were similar to these of the general urban population. Yet Jews were a prominent minority in the FSU due to their concentration in large cities, their high level of education (over 60 percent holding academic degrees) and their white-collar or professional occupations. Due to state anti-Semitism, Jews seldom reached the top level in their professions. Yet, their special sociocultural niche in society gave them access to many valuable non-monetary resources, resulting in a healthier lifestyle, better child education and other advantages (Tolts, 1997; Remennick, 1998). In this article, I draw a pro®le of gender-related problems faced by Russian immigrant women in Israel and explore various facets of the cultural con¯ict between them and the host society. In doing so, I rely on the aggregate analysis of several surveys and studies in this group of immigrants, including my own data, and on some publications in the secular Israeli press. In brief, three types of sources have been employed. The general accommodation trends among Russian immigrants are described drawing on of®cial statistics (IMIA, 1998), surveys by the JDC- Brookdale Institute in Jerusalem and some other macro-sociological data. At the micro-level, I use some previously unpublished interview data from our study of family planning patterns among young immigrant women conducted in greater Tel-Aviv in 1993±4 (Remennick et al., 1995), and from my recent study of multiple roles among middle-aged immigrant women (Remennick, 1999). Finally, the issues of cultural stereotyping of the immigrants by the host society were explored by myself and my graduate students via content analysis of selected publications in the central Hebrew and English-language newspapers (Yediot Aharonot, The Jerusalem Post and some others). The study addressed only the non- religious discourse on gender and immigrants, since over 90 percent of Russian Jews belong to secular Israel and are, culturally, `off limits' for the Orthodox community (see note 9). Naturally, this article does not aim at an exhaustive examination of the issues discussed. It only looks at the tension which exists between immigrant women and Israeli society in the Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 445 realms of employment, sexuality and family life, and raises some relevant theoretical questions.

ABSORPTION OR INTEGRATION?

Before turning to the issue of gender, a brief comment should be made on the ideology and immigration policy in Israel and its effects on the Israeli- Russian community. Throughout its history of receiving immigrant waves from tens of diaspora countries, the Israeli state has focused on their complete assimilation into the host society and culture with the goal of nation building. This aspiration has been expressed in the very term `absorption', referring to a chemical process of dissolution and giving name to the respective governmental of®ce (the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption) and local agencies. Admittedly, the very notion of Israeli `host society', or `mainstream', is growing vague due to multiple social divisions along the lines of ethnicity, religiosity and political af®liation (Ben-Rafael, 1982). Yet commitment to the Jewish national cause (including mandatory military service), respect for Judaism (if not religious observance) and adherence to the Hebrew language (at least in the public space) form the undisputed pillars of the national identity. The failure to comply with these norms and values is regarded as a diversion, if not treason, and punished by implicit discrimination and social isolation of the outsiders. Ex-Soviet Jews of the 1990s had particular trouble meeting these assimilative demands. While most Soviet immigrants of the 1970s had been driven to Israel by Zionist ideals, the current wave was set in motion almost exclusively by the `push factors' having to do with the overall crisis in the FSU (Brym, 1997). Given their secularization and high rates of intermarriage, most Soviet Jews have a weak positive identi®cation with Judaism and feel fairly alienated from the dominant ideology (Remen- nick, 1998). Forming about 20 percent of the Jewish population, the Russian-speaking community in Israel gradually became self-suf®cient, creating its own job market, services, cultural life and media (Zilberg and Leshem, 1996). Most recent immigrants stay in touch with their families and friends in the FSU and maintain economic (e.g. via joint ventures) or cultural (e.g. by watching Russian television channels) ties with their home country. Many immigrants also have social networks in the USA, Canada, Germany and other western countries hosting ex-Soviets. Thus, the Israeli branch of the post-Soviet diaspora has come to be a typical cosmopolitan, or transnational, community. Many immigrants, especially older ones, have no pragmatic need to improve their Hebrew since the thriving Russian subculture readily meets most of their needs. The widespread use of Russian came to be 446 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4) seen as a threat to the sociolinguistic unity of the country. Defences used by the Israeli social gatekeepers against Russian's `cultural invasion' have so far been both harmful and ineffective. Thus, in order to win at least the second generation, the Israeli school system hinders the study of Russian as a second language, leaving Russian-speaking students half-literate in their mother tongue. In general, the host society's approach to the newcomers paradoxically combines `othering' and cultural proselytism, further reinforcing separatist trends in the Russian community (Marko- witz, 1993b; Lissak and Leshem, 1995; Leshem, 1998). Yet, a certain surrender towards an integrative approach, if not multi- culturalism, is visible after a decade's presence of this last wave of Russian Jews in Israel. Greater tolerance between the two cultures re¯ects public recognition of the immigrants' role in the economy and cultural life, as well as their growing political in¯uence via Israel ba-Aliyah and other Russian parties and movements. Hopefully, less rigid assimilative models will gradually win through, to the bene®t of the future waves of immigrants. In the context of this encounter between the immigrants and the hosts, let me turn now to the speci®c problems of women with a Russian accent.3

THE WORK REALM: OCCUPATIONAL DOWNGRADING

Occupational and social downgrading is the most common result of resettlement, especially under conditions of massive immigration (Flug et al., 1997). Most adult immigrants undergo a temporary process of marginalization in the host society, and many have little chance of regaining their former status in their lifetime. Besides gender and age, the extent of downward mobility is determined by immigrants' economic and personal resources (®nancial capital, education, professional record, language command) and the absorbing capacity of the host economy. Over 60 percent of the immigrant women hold academic degrees and all but a few had non-manual occupations before emigration (IMIA, 1998). Post-1989 immigrants faced a disparity between their occupational potential and the structural opportunities offered by the Israeli economy. The local white-collar and professional markets are highly saturated and demand a different set of technical and social skills (e.g. computing, foreign languages, self-marketing) from the one immigrants had acquired in the FSU. Coupled with a traditional male worker preference by Israeli employers, this caused dramatic occupational downgrading among female immigrants. Throughout the 1990s, their unemployment rates have been two to three times higher than among men and they more often have jobs unrelated to their skills (Lithwick and Habib, 1996; Raijman and Semyonov, 1997). Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 447

Russian women often have engineering, construction and other Soviet- type heavy industry specialities considered non-feminine or unde- manded in Israel. Many had to go for retraining in `feminine' occupations (e.g. receptionist, social worker, nursery teacher), which for women engineers also meant rede®ning their professional identity. The following accounts of two female engineers in their late thirties were typical. I worked ten years in textile equipment development, and was sure my experience would be useful in Israel. And what happened in practice? The textile industry here rejects female engineers, also ones like me ± with expertise and ideas of my own. Managers say, `We have a different approach to this and to that . . .' and make you feel backward. I ended up working as a technician just to make a living. . . . And you know what? These very people who rejected me as a peer come to ask my advice about their technical decisions. I feel valued and dumped at the same time.

In Israel, a woman industrial engineer is a contradiction in terms. With my diploma and work record, I had no choice but to retrain. In fact, back home I also didn't have much occupational choice living in a steel industry city. . . . As a woman, you have to go with the ¯ow. . . . Now I am a brand new secretary; my job is to look good and brew strong coffee for my boss.

Women with language- and culture-dependent professions in education, medicine, law and humanities suffered even greater downward mobility. The Israeli academic and cultural market, small and based on a Hebrew/English language mix, was unable to absorb even the established professionals in their ®eld. For some women endowed with entrepreneurial talents, small businesses of their own became a solution. Yet the majority, unequipped for this radical shift, faced deskilling and hence the loss of a large part of their personal identity. Marginalized and forced to the bottom of the social structure, working in menial service jobs, these women faced a completely different social environment from the one before emigration. In the words of one interviewee, a former museum worker, It is not only that you lose your profession, you also lose your place in society. In Leningrad, we lived very modestly but we enjoyed a ®ne quality of human relations with friends and colleagues at work. They were educated, intelligent people, interesting to talk to. And who surrounds us here in Israel? I work as a hotel maid, and my workmates are so . . . limited, many of them do not even read papers let alone books. I feel such a foreign being among these Mizrakhim.4

Female physicians form a special and numerous group among the immigrants due to extreme feminization of medicine in the FSU. Their prospects of becoming licensed and, especially, ®nding work in the saturated medical market were worse than for male doctors (Nirel and Naveh, 1996). Many female MDs opted for retraining into caring or paramedical occupations at the outset, while others chose to sit the 448 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4) licensing exams (often more than once) while making their living through menial work. A physician in her mid-thirties, whose husband is also an MD, said: When we came here in 1991 [the year of mass in¯ux of the immigrants], every tenth Russian immigrant or so held a medical diploma. My husband was determined to get licensed at any cost, so I put my own wishes aside for a while and let him take a refresher course and study Hebrew. I went to work as a cleaner at the hospital, and also did baby sitting and other casual jobs to keep us a¯oat. It took him about three years to get the licence and start working at the hospital. Now it's my turn to go back to medicine. Frankly, after these years in mop and bucket jobs, I don't feel very secure . . . Like this interviewee, many married women noted that they received less support in their work-oriented efforts which required a temporary loss of income (e.g. taking a refresher course or volunteering) than they gave their husbands in similar situations. It was in younger couples where the male partner was more likely to encourage his female partner to study, to start a new job or to take any other steps towards positive professional mobility. Immigrant women in their late forties and older had little chance of ®nding any quali®ed work, even after retraining and despite the state policy of rewarding their potential employers. Many had to live on welfare supplemented by part-time service work (e.g. cleaning or care for the elderly). The latter occupations became a Russian specialty in Israel, since demand is vast and language requirements are minimal (Lithwick and Naveh, 1995). A former director of a nursery school in Odessa pointed out bitterly: I cannot hope for anything but a `mop and bucket career' till retirement. No one in local preparatory schools cares for my pedagogical skills and what I can give to children. The approach, the language ± everything is different. What's the point in learning Hebrew? So I became a professional cleaner and a homemaker. And I am only 43 years old! This is not the life I dreamed about back home. Many middle-aged women saw the failure of the host society to recog- nize their knowledge and skills (one woman even used the words `human capital') as wasteful and degrading. The following quotes were typical: `Did I have to study medicine for seven years only to change bedpans for demented old folks in a nursing home?' `Being a journalist, I didn't hope for much in Israel; yet I am capable of more than just sticking labels on in the supermarket.' Or even `There, in an anti-Semitic country, we were the brain of the nation, and here, in our homeland, we become the shit of the nation.' In sum, whatever standard of comparison is used (Israel vs FSU; female vs male immigrants), there is little doubt that female immigrants face Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 449 substantial occupational, economic and social downgrading.5 Two infer- ences relevant for general migration theory need to be made. First, relegation to double-shift service work (for a wage and at home) seems to be a common destiny for immigrant women of any origin (Third World or East European) in western countries. Despite their different social background, former Soviet women are not spared a `mop and bucket career'. Second, age emerges as the key predictor of occupational success, with the cutting point being around age 45. Younger women with greater cultural ¯exibility are making their way into the host society, while older women stay in the con®nes of the ethnic community.

SEXUALITY AND FAMILY LIFE

Gender roles and family life in the host society are rather different from those among Russian immigrants. Only about half of Israeli women are employed outside the home, usually as secondary breadwinners. Both education and income are typically higher in men, although in younger generations these gaps tend to narrow (Hartman, 1993). Israeli society is family centred and clearly pro-natalist, at both institutional (social services, health care) and individual/normative levels (Peritz and Baras, 1992). The average Israeli family has about three children ± almost double that among the Soviet immigrants. Births to unmarried mothers are few. At the same time, secular Israelis are fairly tolerant towards premarital sex and cohabitation of young adults, as long as they are `sexually responsible'. Ef®cient contraception is widely available and used by the majority of the population (Okun, 1997). The youngsters have full access to sex information, and the overall climate surrounding sexuality is one of acceptance. What is often the case with the newcomers is that their sexual and reproductive conduct, visibly at odds with the mainstream norms, attract much public attention. The image of the Russian woman as an alien `other', stressing her sex appeal as a threat to local male mores, emerged as a key element in popular discourse surrounding the post-1989 immigration wave. Attributes such as high divorce rates, single motherhood, use of abortion for birth control and low numbers of children among immigrant families got wide coverage in the Israeli media of the early 1990s. In a nutshell, the verdict was that the long-expected Russian Aliyah turned out to be `The Aliyah of frauds, sluts and welfare mothers' (Shnirman, 1997). The attitude of the gatekeepers ± professionals and bureaucrats working with immigrants in education, welfare and health care ± has been described by Amir et al. (1997) as moral panic in the face of the `critical mass' of the newcomers. The institutional response to this challenge was 450 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4) expressed in frantic efforts to `educate and acculturate' by means of the `melting pot' policies applied to earlier immigration waves. Little attempt was made to understand the immigrants' past and cultural values, let alone accept some of them, namely bridge the gap from both sides (Amir et al., 1997). This kind of public discourse surrounding the moral image of the newcomers did a severe disservice to thousands of Israeli women with a Russian accent.

Sexual Harassment It is dif®cult to typify former Soviet women's pre-emigration experiences of sexual harassment. Since Soviet society was (or claimed to be) sex blind, the issues of sexual abuse were silenced or ignored (Kon, 1995). Yet, the economic reality of women being equal breadwinners enhanced their power to negotiate sexual relations and to stop unwanted sexual advances. At the same time, the social strati®cation of Soviet society created a wide cultural gap between the educated `intelligentsia' and the `masses' (Shalin, 1996). In the educated circles, to which most Soviet Jews belonged, blatant expression of sexual interest in a public setting was seen as rude and offensive. This is not to say that dating never occurred between co-workers, or that some women did not build their careers on sexual favours bestowed to their bosses. Yet overt sexual harassment in the workplace was uncommon in this social stratum, at least before the advent of the free market, with its sheer sexism and built-in disadvantage for women (Khotkina, 1994; Buckley, 1997). Thus, it can be safely argued that most Russian-Jewish immigrants were socialized in the relatively egalitarian gender culture of the Soviet intelligentsia. In Israel, these female engineers, musicians and teachers suddenly found themselves in the middle of a levantine male culture of the Israeli `street', which sees little point in restraining or disguising sexual interest, especially towards dependent and apparently helpless newcomers (Sawicki, 1995). During their ®rst years in Israel, women with a Russian accent were often made blatant sexual offers in the markets, public gardens or buses, in appartments they rented (by the owners) and, of course, in their new workplaces. This is not to say that local women are never treated similarly, but many of them perceive men's `banter' as a natural part of gender conduct, and those who wish to resist it have cultural tools to do so. The term `sexual harassment' as such appeared in the Israeli media and legal discourse only recently, mainly as a result of American in¯uence. This problem has suddenly been `discovered' by Israeli society and, once named, sexual harassment proved to be common (Hirschberg, 1995; Wolf, 1999). Making things worse for the ex-Soviet women, the latest Jewish emigration has coincided with an in¯ux of illegal sex workers from Russia via Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 451 international organized crime channels. Post-Communist states became one of the world's major exporters of sex workers, and Israel served as an easy target due to its unselective entry policy towards any holder of Jewish documents. Russian, Ukrainian and other Russian-speaking women with false Jewish papers or outdated tourist visas, often traded and detained by force by their pimps (Israeli Women's Network, 1997), have ®lled the massage parlours and night clubs of Israeli cities.6 At the same time, social marginalization and the perceived lack of other options may have prompted some young immigrants to capitalize on their femininity in order to support themselves. Confusion over old vs new sexual norms, and an ambience of sexual liberty among their Israeli peers, may have led some women into dress code and behaviour interpreted by the locals as `loose' and provocative.7 For some young women, this sexual `spiral' ended in disillusionment, embarassment and unwanted pregnancies. In one study, where young Russian women were asked about sexual harassment (Remennick, 1996), fully half of them said they suffered sexual advances by Israeli men on whom they were dependent via work or otherwise. Single and divorced women found it especially dif®cult to fend off these advances. In most cases, they spoke of a `mild' harassment, which, on meeting resistance, gradually ceased. But in several cases, these `obstinate' women lost their jobs, or were otherwise punished (e.g. the forfeit of a promised salary increase). Street harassment has also become a permanent reality for many young women. Gradually, they have developed tools of their own to cope with it: some prefer to ignore it, others learn from local women all kinds of repartee to answer back. One woman described how, at times, she felt hostility from her local female co-workers, who incriminated her, like all Russian women for that matter, in `stealing' their men: At ®rst I could not grasp what they had against me ± I worked like everyone else and tried to be nice. . . . And then one woman ± a fellow Russian who immigrated many years ago ± told me that my `crime' was in trying to `hook' the husband of a junior manager who often came to our workroom and liked to talk to me. I swear it was all his initiative, and I never did anything to encourage him, I didn't even like him. . . . But how could I dissuade my workmates? They were sure that all Russian women were on the hunt for Israeli husbands and boyfriends.

Another interviewee recalled how, responding to an overt sexual pro- posal by an estate agent, she asked what made him think she was easily available. `Experience with other Russians,' he answered, `that's the way you are.' The woman described how degraded she felt, unable to answer back. In this manner, downward social mobility is intertwined with sexual disadvantage for female immigrants. Their male counterparts, having 452 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4) similar problems on the labour market, are spared at least sex-related troubles. As studies in other countries show, job loss, lack of promotion and low work satisfaction are not the only costs of sexual harassment in the workplace. Women living under the shade of unwanted sexual advances often experience depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance and sexual dysfunction (Fitzgerald, 1993).

Changes in Sexual Conduct Our study among young Russian immigrants (Remennick et al., 1995) indicated an on-going change in their sexual norms and behaviour. This transition is especially rapid among students, who have daily contact with their Israeli-born peers and soon adopt their lifestyles. Although clandestine sexual activitiy among Soviet youth has always occurred, it has been carefully silenced. The only normative framework for sexuality was early marriage. Most young singles arrived with this attitude in Israel, where they became exposed to far more liberal ideas about premarital sex. As elsewhere in the developed world, secular Israelis now marry later in life, after having completed their education and obtained stable jobs. Premarital relationships, often beginning during high school (age 17±18) and continuing during military service and well into the late-twenties, have become a common feature of the Israeli lifestyle. Parents of Israeli youngsters are increasingly tolerant of overnight stays by their children's boy- or girlfriends and, later on, of cohabitation by student couples. Contraceptive means are widely used by these couples and children are only born when and if partners decide on marriage. While ex-Soviet parents found this openness shocking, many youngsters rapidly adopted the new pattern. Women in their early twenties were more cautious, pointing out that easy access to sex without marriage might discourage young men from making a commitment. As one in- formant, who had been living with her Israeli-born partner for two years, put it,

Cohabitation is very comfortable for men, since they get all they want ± sex and services ± while keeping their freedom and for years avoiding childcare and domestic chores. And meantime women are getting older, their chances of marriage running out. . . . These `free unions' are as asymmetric as ever for men and women.

Many young women came into con¯ict with their parents, who objected to overt cohabitation with no clear intention to marry. Yet many, especially students, had a full sexual relationship with their boyfriends (in most cases, co-ethnics), and many shared living quarters with them. Contraceptive use evolved over time from condoms and `safe days' to Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 453 more effective methods. Many young women were taking the pill, despite lingering health fears inherited from their mothers (for decades, oral contraception was rejected by Soviet medicine). As one interviewee put it, `As soon as you learn Hebrew, the norms set by your Israeli peers and the media are much more convincing than your mother's concerns.' Few women under 25 intended to marry soon, saying that they would like `to live for themselves before taking on marital and parental obligations'. This also re¯ects an attitudinal shift, given the universal acceptance of early marriage in Soviet culture. Thus, the in¯uence of the host society on young immigrants' sexual conduct apparently outweighs the family. Admittedly, in the ex-Soviet states sexual norms are also rapidly shifting towards acceptance of premarital sex and later marriage (Kon, 1995). Yet, moving to Israel, where `responsible sexual liberty' is far more established, has prompted a dramatic change in young immigrants' lives and broadened the generation gap in terms of sexual norms and practice.

Marital Distress Immigrant studies in the USA, Canada and other immigration-based countries have shown that uprooted families often suffer marital distress (Slutzki, 1979; Foner, 1997). Downward mobility, the loss or deterioration of informal social networks and inter-generational tension in extended families ± all contribute to the decreasing quality of marital relations. A similar trend has been shown among Russian immigrants in Israel (Naon et al., 1993; Ben-David and Lavee, 1994). In the Israeli setting, immigrant family stress has been heightened by the housing problem: due to the soaring rental costs in the early 1990s most multi-generation families had to share small apartments. Forced cohabitation of three generations, reported in one study by some 80 percent of the elderly immigrants (Naon et al., 1993), is a constant source of tension, fatigue and lack of privacy for all family members. In these conditions, the sexual relations of married couples often suffered irrepar- able damage. Speaking about the immigrant woman's life, one respon- dent said, When you are back home after cleaning other people's houses in the terrible heat, and then have to cook food for your folks and do your homework for tomorrow's class [for a retraining course], the last thing on your mind is sex. . . . Our son is separated from our bedroom only by a glass door to the balcony where he sleeps in summer. . . . You only strive to stretch your legs and be left alone. My husband often feels likewise ± he works night shifts as a volunteer at the hospital and worries about his licensing exam. Other sources of con¯ict among immigrant couples include low income, employment problems, disagreement about child education in 454 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4) the new culture and the varying pace of integration between husbands and wives (Ben-David and Lavee, 1994). The fragility of marriage among former Soviets is augmented by the normative acceptance of divorce as a solution to a deteriorating relationship.

Single-Parent Families Due to high divorce rates among ex-Soviets (before and after migration), some 15 percent of all Israeli-Russian families are single parents (IMIA, 1998). Most of these are mothers with young children, often living together with one or both grandparents ± a household type considered an oddity by native Israelis. Since single-parent families are relatively few in Israel (6±8 percent) and single mothers often cannot work full-time, they are viewed as `social cases by default', in need of state support. A mass in¯ux of Russian-speaking single mothers, maladapted to the Israeli job market, without Hebrew skills and with no means of their own was seen from the outset as a burden on the Israeli welfare services (Amir et al., 1997). Divorce rates in Israel, albeit growing, are still rather low. This re¯ects, along with legal constraints and the economic dependence of women, a strong cultural norm to preserve marital ties at any personal cost, usually paid by the woman (Hartman, 1993). Divorced mothers in our sample often experienced disapproval on the part of immigration of®cials, social and welfare workers, their children's teachers and other social gatekeepers, including hints that they were a burden on Israeli society. `They see divorce as a woman's caprice, or her inability to adjust to men, to sacri®ce her own wishes and ambitions for the sake of the family and children', commented one woman. `They think we are all welfare cases, living on the backs of ``good taxpayers'', while this is not true for me and many others. We make our living ourselves like anyone else and provide for all the needs of our children', said another single mother. In this way, cultural differences in marital conduct create a serious locus of tension in immigrant women's lives. This is especially true when immigrants are aware of being permanently observed and judged by the lay majority and state of®cials. In this sense, Russian immigrant women's experiences underscore the interface between gender roles and all other social interactions.

DISCUSSION

The scope of this article allows only a general overview of the gender- related problems experienced by ex-Soviet women as immigrants in Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 455

Israel. This case study can be discussed in two contexts: international (contributions to migration theory) and local (cultural con¯ict between immigrants and Israeli society). Let me brie¯y consider each. As part of current migration experience, the case of Russian Jews in Israel shows that not only poor rural women from Third World countries but also educated female professionals from the FSU have to begin their new life from the bottom, working their way up in the host society. Many of these women, especially older ones, will never succeed in this journey, and their human capital will never be appreciated and used. It can, therefore, be argued that mass migration from less af¯uent countries to the West implies both `brain drain' for the country of origin and `brain waste' for the host country. While both male and female immigrants undergo occupational downgrading and social marginalization, this process has more dramatic rami®cations for women. Besides low wages and poor working conditions, their downward mobility entails negative stereotyping and sexual harassment. Together, these byproducts of resettlement seriously compromise the personal identity and psychological well-being of immigrant women. Let me move now to the local perspective of cultural con¯ict. To be sure, there is no single female experience of immigration; age, personal resources and available support shape the individual process of adjustment. Yet, some experiences have been shared by most women from the FSU, generating many questions about tacit features of the host culture highlighted by its encounter with immigrants. The emerging public image of the Israeli society as liberal and gender egalitarian is challenged by the sudden outburst of deeply entrenched sexism towards women with a Russian accent. Derogation of single motherhood or sexual liberty are considered backward when directed towards local women. The fact that such traditional gender stereotypes are being widely applied to the newcomers, points to the limitations of this `politically correct' atmos- phere. Another question focuses on social interactions in the lower strata of the Israeli Jewish society. Russian immigrants, especially women, have entered the social pyramid at its lower tiers, competing for jobs, income and other resources with the local disadvantaged groups, mainly of non- European origin (see note 4). These groups, who have only recently started their ascent to economic opportunity and social participation (Ben-Rafael, 1982), may have felt threatened by the mass in¯ux of the better educated and assertive Russian Jews. For these groups, the promotion of negative stereotypes of Russian-speaking women may be instrumental in securing their inferior status. Future research should examine the assumption that the described encounter in fact expresses a deeper social antagonism between Jews of European and non-European origin in Israel.8 456 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4)

The Israeli establishment, which ostensibly welcomed Russian immigration, is also intimidated by the pressures it creates. The immigrant women became a handy target for the discrediting of Russian Jews as a whole through constant allegations, mainly by religious forces and state agencies they control,9 of utter secularization and ethnic `impurity' (the matrilineal passage of Jewishness puts women in the focus). Since intermarriage is common among Soviet Jews, Russian and other non- Jewish (or half-/quarter-Jewish) family members form over a quarter of recent immigrants, creating a new cast of second-class citizens in the Jewish state (Remennick, 1998). Ethnically intoned discourse, apart from poisoning the air around women who look and sound Russian, subjects them to many humiliating `clearance' procedures like ancestry checkups three generations back and interrogations at the Rabbinical Court at any change of civic status. Tired of being permanent suspects, some women with non-Jewish blood turn to the tedious procedure of Orthodox con- version, while others propel their families towards second emigration to the West. In this manner, gender, ethnoreligious and political implications of Russian-Jewish immigration to Israel form a tight knot not to be easily unravelled. In the countries hosting numerous immigrants, the focus on their different sexual conduct is not unusual, often to the point of causing `moral panic'. In Israel, this issue gained a special momentum due to the core existential values (ethnoreligious, geopolitical) associated with the population (Peritz and Baras, 1992). The last wave of Soviet immigrants, seen as a `critical mass' due to its size and cultural impact, posed a special challenge in that respect. Divorce, low fertility, abortion and single motherhood emerged in the public discourse as key features of Russian women's collective portrait. The institutional response showed little cultural sensitivity, focusing instead on the `educating' and `converging' of the newcomers (Amir et al., 1997). Many immigrants who cherish their identity reacted to this policy by `closing the door' to any local in¯uence. This added to the self-isolation of the Russian community, perpetuating the circle of cultural disengage- ment. Trying to avert further labelling and humiliation, immigrant women in need may decide not to seek help from of®cial agencies (e.g. police and welfare services) and even voluntary organizations (e.g. shelters for victims of violence or family planning centres). Needless to say, this is hardly conducive to women's well-being and to successful immigrant integration as part of the national agenda.

CONCLUSION

During the past decade, it has become clear that any major improvement in the social status of Russian immigrants could only be achieved via their Remennick: `Women with a Russian Accent' in Israel 457 own political activity. A rich tradition of social dependency among the ex- Soviets has given way to recent attempts towards political organization. Regretfully, too few women have been engaged in this movement to make their voices heard. Both Russian/Soviet and Israeli political cultures are based on male dominance, and the two traditions have merged to keep women from positions of power in the Russian Party (the Israel ba- Aliyah), which won substantial parliamentary representation in both the 1996 and 1999 elections. For several reasons, rooted in their past, former Soviet women have a strong prejudice against political activism (Voro- nina, 1994). Men and women who have lived under socialism, with its virtual absence of civic society, also lack the experience of creating voluntary associations based on common interests. Both political and social groups organized by the immigrants are prone to con¯ict and short lived. Russians in the post-Soviet diaspora are as atomized in Israel and in America as they were previously in Moscow, Leningrad or Kiev (Marko- witz, 1993a, 1993b; Gold, 1997). Hence, it is sad but hardly surprising that, so far, Russian women have made little collective effort to resist negative stereotyping or to solve the other problems they face as immigrants and as women. In sum, it can be argued that Russian women have paid a dear price for their resettlement and adjustment to the Israeli society. It has devalued many women's professional skills, forcing them to rede®ne their identity and seek `feminine' (i.e. service) occupations or suf®ce with homemaking; it has promoted a popular image of Russians as either `bad girls' or victims and `social cases'. As a result, former Soviet women as a group have been partly deprived of their principal social capital: economic autonomy and power in gender relations. Hopefully, at least younger immigrants will regain these assets over time as they feel their way in the Israeli society.

NOTES

I am grateful to my colleagues Professor Dafna Izraeli and Dr Orly Benjamin (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bar-Ilan University) for their valuable comments to the earlier draft of this article.

1. The quotes in the title refer to Fran Markowitz's (1993b) article `Israelis with a Russian Accent'. 2. During the 1990s, the outburst of sexual liberty, with extensive pornography in the media and the commercial sex boom, unleashed pre- and extramarital sexuality. Older generations regard this as a threat to national mores. The Russian Orthodox Church, re-emerging as an active political force, also advocates sexual conservatism, including the anti-abortion movement and a ban on sex education at school (Kon, 1995). Most Russian immigrants left the FSU prior to these new pressures. 458 The European Journal of Women's Studies 6(4)

3. I use the terms `Russian', `Russian-speaking' and `former Soviet' inter- changeably, meaning Jewish immigrants from all the former Soviet states. Due to the dominant status of the Russian language across the FSU, it forms the main axis of identity for the last wave immigrants, diverse in many other respects. 4. Mizrakhi (i.e. Eastern) Jews, who moved to Israel during the 1950s from the Arab countries (mainly from Morocco), have occupied a lower social- occupational tier of Israeli society, working mainly in small trade and services. They are typi®ed by lower education, higher religious observance and more traditional family structure, compared to Ashkenazi (European) Jews. Since the 1980s, Mizrakhi ethnic parties (including the ultra-Orthodox SHAS) have struggled for upward social mobility and equal political representation of Mizrakhi Jews (Sharot, 1995). 5. With the advent of market forces in post-socialist countries, women were the ®rst to suffer downward occupational mobility and unemployment (Khotkina, 1994). It is therefore doubtful that female immigrants would have fared any better in the work realm if they had stayed in the FSU. Yet for most immigrant women references to the situation in the FSU make little sense; their locus of comparison has shifted to other Israelis, immigrants or locals. 6. The response of the Israeli state to the traf®cking of women from the FSU and their enslavement by the pimps has largely been inadequate. The police intervene with occasional raids on brothels and deportation of sex workers, while the pimps escape any serious sanction (Israeli Women's Network, 1997). 7. Soviet women have for years been deprived of fashionable clothes and cosmetics. Some immigrants, striving to look attractive or to get a new image, may use too much makeup or wear their skirts too short (even by local standards), thus reinforcing their image as `sluts'. 8. The controversial and sensitive issue of interethnic relations in Jewish Israel, marked mainly by the tension between Ashkenazi and Mizrakhi Jews, is beyond the scope of this article. It is pertinent to note, though, that women's issues are closely intertwinned with ethnoreligious disputes. 9. Ultra-Orthodox Jews enjoy far greater political in¯uence than their representation in Israeli population (about 10 percent). Another 40 percent, describing themselves as moderately observant or `traditional', culturally often lean towards the secular sector. In matters of civil status (birth, marriage, divorce, burial), the Rabbinical courts and religious lobby have a decisive say (Sharot, 1995).

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Larissa I. Remennick currently heads the Graduate Programme in Medical Sociology at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Born in Russia, she holds a PhD in sociology and demography of health from the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (1988). Her research centres on women's health, sociology of fertility and family planning and cross-cultural aspects of health and illness. Dr Remennick has conducted a number of studies on acculturation, gender and health issues among Russian immigrants in Israel.