The following is a response to the documentary "Wasteland", which followed the lives of the catadores, or pickers from the largest landfill in the world in Brazil.
This response addresses women and a brief commentary on the perception of sex work in lower income areas.
This response addresses women and a brief commentary on the perception of sex work in lower income areas.
A woman that stood out to me was Suelem. She was beautifully happy. She had a smile on her face even though she spoke of the horrors that were found in the dump and in her line of work. She had kids to support and she could only see them for a weekend once a month. She is working to give them a better life. Her mother did the same thing when Suelem was a child. She was always left to take care of the children . She prides herself on not selling drugs or prostituting, but I am not sure her job is better. What is important is that Suelem still has her dignity and her sense of self. She still smiles, and she has her goal in sight. It extremely debilitating to have to pay most of your wages to live to work and then send the rest home to children you can barely see, but she makes a way.
From both Magna and Suelem I get the sense that sex work is frowned upon. However, I am of the mind that sex workers have just as much dignity as other workers if they have agency over their bodies. I think Magna defines dignity with hard work. To her, no matter what you do, as long as you're working, you're doing great.
I don't think picking garbage is an undignified job, I think capitalism teaches us that it should be, but the catadores do a huge service to all of Brazil and the world.
I love piece they made of Suelem and her family.. I like that Vik is including the people he's making art of in his artwork. "They're not gonna say Vik did it, they're gonna say 'they did it'". This artwork means a lot more than just the pricetag. It means awareness and a call to action.