ABSTRACT
Artisanal mining settlements have gained a reputation for being places of sexual amorality and the bane of nearby villages endorsing traditional moral standards. In several respects, this is not surprising: mining literature related to gold rush strikes worldwide, focusing on the gold digging activities of men, has often had the sub-theme of women’s metaphorical gold-digging activities as prostitutes. Money-making is seen as the primary focus of men and women’s aims, to the exclusion of marriage and family life. This chapter, based on qualitative interviews in 2009 with women living in artisanal gold mining settlements in southern Tanzania, interrogates the validity of this stereotype. Concentrating on social relations between men and women, we consider how sexual ties evolve from the perspective of women. In our analysis of the dynamics of monogamy, polygamy and promiscuity amidst rapid material change, we are alert to whether prostitution exists and deflects from bonds of caring, sharing and loving between the sexes.
