Fewer German women partake in topless bathing despite the new rules; “not ready”

Despite topless swimming and sunbathing recently becoming permitted at public pools across Germany, few women are partaking in the “free body culture,” movement, which appears especially in decline with the younger generation.

New rules allow German women to bathe topless 

In recent years, Germany has been urging for laws to allow women to swim and sunbathe topless; the drive for change was exuberated by a case in 2022, in Gottingen, when a bare-chested person who claimed themselves to be non-binary was refused access to a swimming pool. 

In 2023 in Berlin, a woman entered into a legal battle with the police, when they asked her to cover up her breasts or leave the public water park; her case was initially rejected but the dispute resulted in pool operators declaring that under German anti-discrimination rules, all genders will be treated equally in terms of exposing their breasts in public places. 

Today, most German cities, including Frankfurt and Cologne have allowed women to swim and sunbathe topless, while in Hamburg, bare breasts are only permitted on certain days a week. But despite reaching the ultimate goal of body freedom and gender equality, the practice has not been so popular among German women and some are worried about the consequences.

German women prefer not to bathe topless

The “Freikoerperkultur” (free body culture) has played a significant role in the lifestyle of German people but has surprisingly been less popular among the younger generation; membership of the Freikorperkultur federation has now halved from its peak and several surveys showed that most German women are opposed to topless swimming and sunbathing. 

“The female body is linked to projections and fears,” said Anja Zimmermann, a professor at the university in Erlangen about the modern stance on nudity; due to the rise of social media, contemporary society is habitually fed images of edited and “perfected” bodies, leading to body dysmorphia and low self confidence in many young women. 

Buanca Polcar, a 53-year-old German woman who used to partake in the naturist culture in her youth, said to the Press that she finds the new laws could help the younger women “love their bodies as they are” in an era of leading “idealized images” on the internet. Herself, Buanca no longer wishes to expose her body in public.

45-year-old Martina Parsch, also said; “I don´t feel ready for it at the moment, but I am working on it.” Berlin residents have reported that the practice is not so popular and one topless swimming enthusiast in Frankfurt, Muriel, said she was happy that the rules had changed “at last” but that she had only seen two other topless bathers in the city. 

Alarmingly, a polling institute Norstat on behalf of Plaubou revealed that 71 per cent of men were in favour of allowing cross-gender topless swimming, and only 45 per cent of women supported the idea; who is really behind the drive for female nudity?

German and Spanish women have doubts about bathing topless

The European leader of toplessness, Spain has reported 48 per cent of women under 50 have gone topless on the beach, according to statistics from Ifop for the Vie Healthy. 

Yet, even in the Mediterranean culture, the practice has been less popular among younger people; a study showed that it is Spanish women under 25 years of age who feel the most uncomfortable with sunbathing topless, as 51 per cent reported to feel threatened by male attacks while being bare-breasted in public. 

Alongside the unrealistic standards on female bodies, the internet brings up the danger of videos and photos, as many women now feel insecure exposing themselves due to potentially being filmed on camera and having their photos shared on social media. After years of fighting for body freedom, has nudity stopped being a liberating act and become a mere cause of unwanted attention?

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