The objective of the article is to understand Afro-Colombian women’s emotional experiences of the migratory process, and their labor insertion in Chilean territory. The Antofagasta region is one of the doors that connects Chile with its neighbors; at the same time, it is a national territory that is linked to important economic and human movements due to its mining activity. In the analysis of the data collected through of group and individual interviews conducted in the city of Antofagasta, we found experiences of xenophobia, labor abuse, discrimination, prejudices, and stereotypes articulated, along with the tendency of Chilean culture to value European traits over native Latin American traits.

In this study, we sought to understand, from a gender perspective, the experiences of mining couples in Antofagasta, Chile, especially the balance between their intimate lives and the absences of their partners due to the shift work modality. We analyzed testimonies from men and women living in Antofagasta, which is considered to be one of the world’s three largest mining regions. Among the main findings, power relations based on the hegemonic gender model supported by the sexual division of labor were identified, which persist in this mining area, despite progress in gender equality issues in Chile. Although there are differences between the discourses of men and women and their subjective positioning, we propose that both actively collaborate with the reproduction of social gender relations marked by male domination. We propose that the way in which couples live is associated with the organization of mining work and especially the shift system, which is central to the reproduction of the gender order with a heteropatriarchal tone.

The objective of this article is to contribute to sex education with a methodology that facilitates subjective expression through the body in its different experiences. For that, we propose an intertextual model of sexual self-care that focuses on gender and rights. This work strategy stimulates the emergence of meanings and discourses embodied in a protagonist’s body. These procedures are applied in interactive workshops, where the experience narrated, written and graphed on one’s own body and sexuality is articulated. Based on this amalgam, a body map is drawn that illustrates a geography of interpersonal relationships. In the process, the importance of gender mandates, coming from meaningful figures, is understood. From these findings it is possible to self-analyze experiences that emerge from the intrapsychic levels weaved with sociocultural and emotional experiences, which opens opportunities for the deconstruction of hegemonic positions. The relationship that develops between the person who produces the intertextual map of the body and the person who orients the process is dialogical in that the notions of authorship, agency and subjective autonomy are recognized, which increases the possibilities of redefining gender’s position in social relationships and provides a strategy for educational programs considered from the protagonist’s perspective. It is concluded that this model facilitates the process of corporeal self-care in that it strengthens autonomy through the recognition of authorship and agency, strengthening the redefinition of a gendered position in social relationships, providing a strategy for educational prevention programs and the promotion of sexuality.

A critical analysis of the discourse of female sex workers residing in the Antofagasta region in northern Chile is presented. It highlights the discursive constructions of female sex workers on the commercial, affective, and sexual bond with male mineworkers. From this discursive production emerges the image of a whore–mother, of a woman who, encouraged by a monetary transaction, knows how to embody what her client–miner needs beyond sex: to reinforce his manhood while welcoming him and recognizing him as an affectively deprived subject. Such a role fulfills a function of repairing the virile force of work, sustaining a balance that affects the miner’s functioning and performance in the mine.

From a gender perspective, the persistence of the habitus of masculinity in Chilean male miners in their family relationships, relationships with their partners, sexuality, and work was analyzed, delving into a construction that drives them toward the satisfaction of desires and consumption. The discourses of 13 workers between 25 and 62 years old were obtained through individual and group interviews. The findings constitute an axis of the research Fondecyt 1180079 carried out in Antofagasta, the region with the highest mining production in Chile and the third largest in the world. The conclusions reveal notions of bodily habitus, mediated by gender hierarchies, where binary masculinity is accentuated, reproducing the extractive logic of the industry in the workers themselves. Men recognize a self-demand between fulfilling the mandate of economic provider vs. a relentless disciplining of male bodies in favor of efficiency, control, and exacerbated consumption, which underlies the industry.