Depending on if you were born as a man or a woman, things can be quite different in life. There are discrepancies on each and every level, from how much you earn over the shoe sizes at your disposition to the way you dress when you go for a swim. Whereas for men who were born as such going topless isn’t even a thing, for women, it’s mostly not accepted to walk around without anything to cover the breast area. For many, however, this difference was no longer acceptable and now, things are starting to change.
There are many reasons for which someone who was born a woman might want to go swimming topless. Maybe it’s just about the freedom, about the unfairness of the fact you have to cover up while men don’t. Maybe you don’t like the feeling of a bra or anything else tight around your breasts. Or maybe, even though you were once born as a woman, now, you no longer consider yourself as one ad you want to vindicate that fact.
Berlin’s government wants everyone to understand that women are free to swim topless in public pools if they so choose.#berlin #germany #swim #swimming #pools #topless #gender #equality #right #wrong #instagram #facebook #women #feminism #lgbtq #body #ignorance #bhignorance pic.twitter.com/YLJTrvWUUa
— Beheading Ignorance (@BHignorance) March 13, 2023
Berlin takes a stance
No matter the reason, the city of Berlin has got your back. Following a discrimination complained addressed to the senate’s ombudsperson’s office about the right to go swimming topless, a new rule has now been adopted in all of Berlin’s public swimming pools. The Berliner Baederbetriebe, the organization running the pools, has decided to allow anyone to go for a swim whilst being topless.
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.
Doris Liebscher, Head of the ombudsperson’s office, declared in a statement.
“Now it is a matter of the regulation being applied consistently and no more evictions or house bans being issued”, she said, referring to the fact that before, women who went to bathe topless were not only asked to cover themselves but were sometimes even banned from the establishment for good. “The decision shows once again how successful the establishment of the independent LADS ombudsman is: it supports citizens and administration in settling complaints of discrimination quickly, free of charge and out of court.”
When exactly the decision will go into effect, hasn’t been shared yet. However, Berlin is not the first German city allowing everyone to take a swim topless. Göttingen adopted a similar regulation earlier, even though the city decided to only allow topless swimming for women during the weekends.
