Polish "Mall Girl" Culture?

nytimes.com/2010/03/05/world/europe/05iht-mall.html?ref=global-home&pagewanted=all

Say it isn't so.

It is so.

Where there is smoke, there might be fire.

oh I think that the researcher has done some great work. she opened our eyes to a social event.

the journalist however is slacking. the views that are being cited are not always put in perspective, which I'm sure dramatizes the thing. But that's the today's journalism.

What I noted out:
- why is church blamed for girls who don't attend it?
- why is every article about Poland mentioning Communism, while we had Socialism???
Communism was only in Russia, but in the satellites only until Stalin dies in '56. And really, for a British or American newspaper to cite Communism is awkward. As all the Forum knows.

There are persons in all countries that can't afford the latest mobile phone, exclusive designer clothes, 500 zl shoes etc. And most people don't understand how important these things have become for teenagers to be accepted. It's sick and brutal, but true.

But it's important to note, as the researcher says, that it's usually girls who had social/family problems when they grew up.

So you mean those cuties that looked at me longingly at Arkadia didn't just think I was dashing and were rather soliciting? Great...my self confidence just took a dive ;)

This quote from the article jumped out at me:

“If you want to be cool and accepted at school, you need to have a good cellphone, designer shoes and a boyfriend. You are judged by how you look,” she said. “For sure, I don’t want to end up with a sweaty ugly guy.”

See how much importance she puts on image and acceptance? I never wanted to be accepted by such shallow and stupid people. I am not sure why anyone would.

Emmm... you never wanted to be excepted by teenage mall prostitutes? yeah, good for you!


Excellent point, Poland is changing fast and people want to show off unfortunately many simply can not afford to show off and some will do anything to be excepted.

But these are teenagers, insecure, stupid, shallow, goofey kids, there is not much difference between the Mall kids here and the things they do and that of other countries. After all it is all the same music, clothes, identity they use.

They are under much more pressure than I was when I was a teen, nobody had anything when I was a kid, so there was simply not that kind of pressure but I can see it through the televisions, magazines, blasted with billboards and having the "perfect life".

I'm having a déjà-vu!

The girl went to the same American high school that I did, or what?
No, it's impossible, that was a looooong time ago.....

So you admit you have issues :)

Ha ha,Galerianki.When I write the same,I am strange.

You can't stop can you? You must thrive on the internet...you would have your face beat in behaving like such a tw@t in the real world.

Polish walley girls. Thats yust great.

If parents take their children back then problem solved. Unless of course their parents are where such "values" are coming from. But in all likelihood if parents become leaders for their children, set a good character example then this should go away. Any one wanna bet on if it does go away? Sad but Poland is catching up quickly to the misplaced values held so highly in "the west."

Amen. Sadly that won't happen.

That film was the first thing i thought of when I saw this thread

It is very likely to fish girls in Poland by promising them presents etc.But you need to stay first there for a while to build a reputation.How much I like the direct czech approach.

I am in the worng country.

I just saw some scenes of the film in youtube.Very romanticised presents girls as innocent victims.In reality they are very raw.

In Ukraine they tell you '''do you want to fucck?You can fucck me with 50$.''

What the hell has this topic in common with relationships and marriage?

Well, I suppose it's a "relationship" of sorts, but yes, very doubtful that it leads to marriage.

I remember seeing younger girls dressed pretty trashy at the malls and having a quick "future prostitute" thought but it is sad to think it might have been true. There were 3 or 4 regulars in the Central Station underground in Warsaw late at night...always a bit depressing to see.

I think someone hiring a 14yo for sex needs to be jailed for a long time.

Prostitutes were always around in Poland but never publicized. Now with them cool malls it sure beats the hell rather than laying in them woods waiting for a tira to drive by.

But how do they get in those bathrooms where the mall babas always sit demanding your 1 złoty. Do they do it in the men's bathroom or the women's?

I was wondering about the bathrooms as well. In the bigger malls there are always people around so you couldn't really sneak in...and in the smaller ones they often have the women taking money as you mentioned.

woot woot to FREEdom.. :D :D

FreeDOOM :)

I think this goes far far deeper than a simple moniker of 'prostitution', but more in the way relationships and sex is so strictly structured in Poland, how the entire dating scene works, on the difficulty in meeting partners, and on the materialistic wants of the yonger generation obviously not being met by their own salaries or of their parents.

Its a disappointment though that articles like these rarely take into account the other side, ie, all these 21st century woes, those poor girls, capitalism/materialism, lets find fault in the parents, etc etc, but nothing is mentioned on the guys who bang these girls?

I think any foreigner who has dated Poles in Poland was maybe a few times taken aback at certain behavior, those infamous polskie kompleksy, and its a shame that the newer generation evidently is being raised to be something far worse than the older communist generation IMHO.

It's the church's fault for not doing more to appeal to these girls. If they had sexy, young priests who played hip-hop, they might go.\

I suppose 'scoialism' is part of Western politics. It's hard for them to appreciate that the kind of system in Poland could be compared with the kind of socialism they have/had in UK or France. Therefore, it 'must' have been communism.


agreed, especially when you can count the track marks up their arms.

Hm.There is not so big difference between younger and older Polki as you may think.Perhaps older were more concrete.

And an even better question is, why is this sort of behavior different depending on which ex communist country you're looking at.

What do you mean?

I know what you mean, but I think there are. Just the differences in upbringing are astoundingly different. The missing father just didnt exist in communist times, nowadays its all I hear, and the gap between what you really had (money, possessions, friends, relationships) and what you wanted to have grew by 100000x, many people have expectations that go above and beyond what I would say are grounded or even normal. Im getting sick of 20 something year olds complaing they cant afford an apartment a new car and vacations in the Caribbean... no 23 year old without rich parents could afford that.

Kind of off topic, I think the best generation of Polish women quite frankly is in their 30s right now and a surprising amount are single, quite different from the 'must have boyfriend every waking moment of life' thing most Polish girls and woman have.


Also dont know what you mean, like its any different in Lithuania or the Ukraine? And if it is then wait another two years or so. The growing pains of very poor country trying to be rich.

Why don't you see this type of behavior in say, Croatia. Or take our neighbors to the south, while prostitution is much more open and accepted, the phenomena of the galerianki is nowhere to be found.


My girlfriend was raised in a single parent household. A neighbor also grew up without a father.