The Power of Money in Gender Relations from a Chilean Mining Culture

This article addresses the role of money in power relations among mining and nonmining couples. The research performed in the region of Antofagasta, Chile, is based on an interpretive paradigm, with discursive analysis. Twenty-eight people were interviewed based on the category of conflicts and tensions in money negotiations. Findings include that among older women and men, money appears to be masculinized and associated with an illusion of empowerment of women, exacerbating the androcentric sex/gender model. In their discourses, some women express their progress toward relationships of greater equity. Couples must deal with gender conflicts when negotiating money. Even though women manage the family’s money, it’s not considered their money; therefore, they don’t feel free to use it and must account to the man. In this power game and in negotiating, the model of romantic love prevails, the couple’s public and private position, and a neoliberal culture that promotes high levels of consumption.