The paper looks at the relation between gender equality and cultural equality from a comparative persepctive focising on tensions and conflicts from a comporative Nordic and European perspective. It starts with a brief overview of key elements in integration strategies and philosophies in selected countries. It then looks at prevailing philosophies of gender equality and the ways they are reflected in policy making. The main focus is on two issues: The debates about forced and aranged marriages and the veil. It is an explorative paper that aims to raise new research questions about the construction of gendered conflicts around migration from a comparative citizenship perspective.