Final answer:
Women in western mining communities played supportive roles such as laundresses, running restaurants and boardinghouses, and working as cooks. However, gold mining itself was typically not a role women played.
Step-by-step explanation:
In western mining communities, women played various roles, but one role they did not typically engage in was mining gold alongside the men. Women were indeed involved in the mining industry, but their roles were primarily supportive. For example, they worked as laundresses to wash the miners' clothes, ran restaurants and boardinghouses to provide food and lodging, and worked as cooks to prepare meals for the miners. Additionally, some women worked as prostitutes to cater to the predominantly male population in these communities.
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