“Girls Blended in, While Boys Had to Fight:” Gendered Integration Scripts Among (Ex)Soviet Immigrant Adolescents in Israel’s Geo-Social Periphery

Abstract International research on the integration of immigrant youth often overlooks significant gender differentials in how boys and girls experience prejudice and social exclusion in the host societies. This article draws upon biographical interviews with members of the ex-Soviet immigrant Generation 1.5 who grew up in disadvantaged Israeli neighborhoods rife with intergroup violence. Interviewees shared their memories of school years spent among other migrants and native Mizrahi peers. Our analysis is framed in Berry’s popular concept of acculturation scripts, while also exploring the local reception contexts and an intersectional view of adolescence and gender in the context of migration. We found that girls mostly coped with ethnic harassment by mimicry, i.e., adopting the local Mizrahi habitus and tastes in clothing, music, and leisure habits. Boys faced more violent intergroup relations at school and in the streets and often had to fight back to defend their honor. Fewer boys than girls chose the social mimicry path, rather reasserting their ethnic identity. Some informants emerged as “nerds,” withdrawing from peer groups and seeking instead academic excellence and intellectual growth. Our findings illuminate sources of resilience and gendered coping strategies that set our informants on the path of social mobility.