Female sex work in the nitrate era in Tarapacá and Antofagasta was crucial in the construction of a “pampina” identity. Thus, the portrayal of sex workers in written supports such as Chilean literature and historical writings. Herein, we criticallyreview a selection of these archives, which reveal certain representations and archetypes about these women (literature sources), and about sex work in Chile in general (sources written by historians) projected by those who observed the nitrate sex work from outside. We take an explicit positionality regarding these representations as external observers, to visibilize and claim sex work as a work option, without ignoring their social and economic precarities. Thus, we intend to contribute to future studies about nitrate sex work, understanding that our position about it will affect research in one way or another.
Keywords:
nitrate era, pampina woman, pampina identity, sex work
Arqueóloga de la Universidad de Chile. Investigadora independiente
María José Clunes Squella, Universidad de Santiago de Chile
Licenciada en Sociología de la Universidad de Chile. Estudiante Doctorado en Historia USACH. Docente universitaria, investigadora. Apoyo en “Margen”, organización de trabajadoras sexuales en Chile.
Fernanda Kalazich, Universidad Católica del Norte
Dra. en Arqueología. Profesora Asociada Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo, Universidad Católica del Norte
Erazo Gutiérrez, F., Clunes Squella, M. J., & Kalazich, F. (2024). Representations of the Saltpeter Sex Worker in Chilean Literature and History: Contributions to the Study of Pampino Sex Work in Northern Chile. Revista Punto Género, (21), pp. 240–272. https://doi.org/10.5354/2735-7473.2024.75181