Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden, has voted to allow topless bathing at public swimming pools. The original motion, however, was one to force women to cover up!
Feminist groups had started turning up at local swimming pools and bathing topless, provoking the Council to debate the matter. A motion to force women to cover up was, however, amended to read ‘everybody should wear bathing suits’.
As men are not regulated as to what type of bathing suit they wear, the Council decided it didn’t make sense to introduce regulations just for women. This left it open for topless bathing as long as the woman is wearing the bottom part of a bikini.
Feminists welcomed the move on the grounds of equality. They felt that if women were forced to wear tops, then men should also be required to wear tops.