who would not be for gender equality

Soon there won't be any need for this.

Bara Bröst Reveals Feminism's Assets
Sweden's Full Frontal Attack on Our Topless Prejudice



From Mary Wollstonecraft to Betty Friedan, feminism has had many great warriors and many noble causes. But few have the power to so directly benefit both genders as Sweden's Bara Bröst (Bare Breast) campaign. This grassroots network of contemporary feminists is battling so that women can swim topless in public.

Like most movements of this magnitude, Bara Bröst arose out of despair over inequality and rage against the loss of human rights. However, most trace its origins to an incident in September in which two bare-breasted young women were ordered to cover up by a lifeguard at a swimming pool in Uppsala. The swimmers refused to comply and were then ordered out of the water -- but the revolution was about to do a cannonball.

Word of the incident began spreading, with a rallying cry: "They're Just Breasts!" As this "new wave of feminists" grew, their full frontal assault on topless prejudice incited acts of civil disobedience across the Scandinavian nation. In Malmö, seven Bara Bröst members jumped into a pool "wearing only bikini bottoms." They were told to leave for hygiene reasons! A fortnight later, at Högevallsbadet in Lund, seven more of these noble freedom fighters entered the water as nature intended, and once again they were ejected.

According Inger Grotteblad, spokesperson for the Uppsala leisure center: "There are three reasons for this. First, there is a security aspect, then there is a hygiene issue and finally there is what we call 'prevailing manners and customs'. It is above all this last point which is important here," she was quoted saying.

But the unflappable spirit of freedom cannot be contained by the cups and straps of social convention. And as their plight began getting international attention, like-minded groups joined them in solidarity. Canada's Topfree Equal Rights Association has tossed its shirt into the mix; can it be long before a few of America's equality-based fraternities join in the cause? With their help these Feminist warriors may soon tear down "the unwritten social and cultural rules that sexualize and discriminate against the female body," and perhaps even emancipate the Swedish Bikini Team from the top heavy shackles of male oppression.