The talk examines the history of female prostitution in Havana from 1600 to the present. While Cuban women used sexual labor to support their families, to attain financial independence, and to buy their freedom from slavery, it is only with the advent of state-regulated prostitution that a discursive regime developed to create and solidify the prostitute identity. This presentation will provide a brief overview of sex work in Havana followed by a discussion of sex workers’ lives during the colonial and anti-colonial periods.
Dr. Amalia L. Cabezas is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Riverside and the Author of Economies of Desire, Sex Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic
