{image1}Betty Zurawski enjoys walking for exercise inside the Mayfair Mall. However, after taking a month off from her exercise regime, Zurawaski was shocked to see a new Victoria's Secret display.
"It crossed the line of decency," says Zurwaski, 69. "I took one look at it and thought, 'this is disgusting.'"
The manager at Victoria's Secret of Mayfair refused to speak on the record, but a staff member admitted the store received a few calls about their latest window display featuring a thong-wearing mannequin with her backside exposed.
Zurwaski says she went into the popular lingerie boutique and voiced her concerns to the clerks, but recognized their inability to do anything. She decided she would have to take matters into her own hands if she wanted to make a change.
The next day, she and her daughter returned to Mayfair to take digital photos of the sexy display. They also visited Spencer's Gifts and Sam Goody music shop where they found items they describe as "vulgar."
"If adults want these things for some reason, well, that's their business, but we saw mostly teenagers going in and out of these stores," says Zurawski, a Wauwatosa-based mother of four and grandmother of 13.
Items that Zurwaski found offensive include vibrators, "love whips," sex dice, overtly sexual posters and calendars, and more. Most of the baubles-in-question were found inside Spencer's Gifts.
Spencer's Gifts corporate representatives did not return OMC's phone calls, but according to its Web site, the store caters to a demographic comprised of 18- to 25-year-olds. Zurawski says this isn't true, and that she witnessed mostly high school-aged kids going into the shop.
Earlier this week, Zurawski and her group, "Tosans for Responsible Government," announced a community meeting for anyone concerned about the issue. It will be held on Monday, Sept. 26 at the Wauwatosa Police Station from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
"View the lewd and pornographic material that is being pushed on our youth and help us to implement the appropriate action that must be taken to correct this situation," reads her invite to the meeting.
Zurawski says she wants Mayfair to be aware of what these shops are selling to young people and, best-case scenario, to tighten up their rules and make certain shops off-limits to teens.
"It's time for Mayfair Mall to clean up their act," she says. "This is an issue for anyone who has children and doesn't want them exposed to this kind of smut."
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
