![]() ![]() Keon West, a professor of social psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, has investigated attitudes towards nudity in various countries in Europe as well as further afield. Rather than sexualizing the naked human body, the movement places emphasis on the health benefits of communal open-air nudity while exercising or being in nature. The swimmer refused on the grounds that he identified as male, and was subsequently banned from the premise, according to a report by Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.Īs well as gender equality, the move also speaks to Germany’s love of Freikoerperkultur or FKK – which has its origins in the German Empire. The move is not unprecedented for Germany, with Goettingen in central Germany becoming the first city in the country to allow women to swim topless in public pools last summer.Ĭity authorities made the decision following a gender identity row which saw a swimmer asked to cover up at a local pool. Germans, as a rule, are very neutral in that regard and won’t mind, but whether that translates well, we have to wait and see.” “I was once at a swimming pool in the Pankow district and remembering the audience, I would not go topless there. Ida also remained skeptical at how widely women would make use of the new rule. It is great that there are no penalties for an accidental nip-slip so all in all, this is a beautiful thing.” “Women, if comfortable with their own bodies and sometimes gawking strangers, won’t have a problem displaying their torsos in any case. However, I am not exactly sure how this serves gender equality,” she told CNN. “It is certainly great that a simple complaint has made this ‘topless’ development a reality in Berlin. “The ombudsman very much welcomes the decision of the bathing establishments because it creates equal rights for all Berliners, whether male, female or non-binary and because it also creates legal certainty for the staff in the bathing establishments,” she said.īerlin resident Ida – who asked not to give her surname – welcomed the loosening of restrictions while questioning what it would really do for gender equality. ![]() Doris Liebscher, hailed the move as a step forward for gender equality in the city. ![]() People swim in a public swimming pool in Berlin's Neukoelln district. “As a result of a successful discrimination complaint, the Berlin bathing establishments will in future apply their house and bathing regulations in a gender-equitable manner,” the statement reads. For both men and women, the breast is a secondary sexual characteristic but men have the freedom to remove their clothes when it is hot and women do not.”īerlin’s state government confirmed the move in a press release Thursday. Speaking to German newspaper Die Zeit at the time about why she believed it was gender discrimination, she said: “For me - and I teach this to my son - no, there is no such difference. She was with her five-year-old son when the incident happened. French woman Gabrielle Lebreton sought financial compensation from the city after security guards ordered her to leave the premise when she refused to cover up her breasts. It follows a similar incident at a Berlin water park in the summer of 2021. The woman lodged a complaint with the city’s ombudsman’s office at the Senate Department for Justice, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination.Īuthorities agreed that the woman had been a victim of discrimination and this week said that all visitors to Berlin’s pools, including women and those who identify as non-binary, are permitted to go topless. Women in Berlin can now swim topless in the city’s public pools if they choose to – just as men can.Īs well as being hailed as a step forward for gender equality in the German capital, the measure introduced this week is symptomatic of Germany’s love of Freikoerperkultur – literally translated as ‘free body culture’ – which has its roots in the late 19th century.īerlin’s authorities took action after a female swimmer said she was prevented from attending one of the city’s pools without covering her chest in December 2022. ![]()
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