Two Swedish women who want to be allowed go topless in the nation’s swimming pools have had their case rejected by Sweden’s equality watchdog.

A ruling released on Friday underlined that women’s bodies were different from men’s:
“There is a physical difference between a woman’s upper body and that of a man,” said Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Anne-Marie Bergström.

“There is also a great difference between how people in general perceive men’s and women’s bodies. It is therefore hard to maintain that the topless bathers were in a comparable situation to men who bathed with naked upper bodies.”