Staten Island Very Upset About Woman Being Walked on Leash at the Mall

There’s no word on whether the below couple enjoying a nice walk through the mall together are doing some sort of art project or participating in something sexual, but concerned folks in Staten Island are shaking their heads at the photo of a man walking a woman on a leash. The shot, which was snapped on Saturday, has gone viral after the man and woman were kicked out of the mall due to their unnatural behavior.

Here’s a video of the woman in question (who looks a lot like Molly Ringwald, which made me shriek when I saw the images) enjoying a cold drink from a fountain, taken by an eye witness:

Staten Island Advance reports that comments on the photos have been mixed, with some people going “oh well, it’s Staten Island” and others wishing that the woman in question get help for her obvious mental health conditions. And while some may find the walk demeaning, it doesn’t look like the woman is unhappy in the photos, nor that this is non-consensual. It just seems like she is about that dog life and is just out there having a good time. She even happily posed for a photo with her man:

Commenters are torn on whether what’s going on here is inherently degrading to women everywhere (even if this woman in particular seems to be down with it) and whether behavior like this belongs anywhere in the outside world. One person, of course, has asked exactly how you would explain something like this to your child if they saw these people out and about, but it seems like explaining make-believe wouldn’t be too hard to a kid who probably pretends to be a dog or a tiny kitty sometimes, anyway. You just leave the whole sex part out, I guess.

According to The New York Daily News the man and woman in the photos are mall regulars and have shopped at Zumiez and Hot Topic frequently in the past. Clerks who recognized the duo didn’t seem fazed at all, referring to the couple as “normal people.” No children have been reported as seeking help from a crisis counselor after seeing the couple.

It seems like this couple was just doing weird shit for the sake of doing weird shit as a couple? Some people (like my partner and I) mispronounce Chipotle intentionally as a fun relationship activity, some people walk each other on leashes. Love is a spectrum.