Swedes, long famous round the world for their relaxed attitude to nudity, are now some of Europe's biggest prudes, according to a new survey.

While Italians, Spaniards, Brits and Germans were unperturbed about the idea of women taking their tops off on the beach, Swedes were far less at ease with the practice, according to a survey of 3,000 people by flight website Skyscanner.

99% of Germans were in favour of topless female sunbathing, but only 84% of Swedes agreed, and a mere 67% of Swedish women thought it was acceptable to let it all hang out at the beach.

Now, even traditionally prudish Americans are more relaxed about stripping off on the beach than people from Sweden, according to the survey.

A Dip in the Nip

Based on article from telegraph.co.uk

I don't know about this sin-sodden corner of the world, but in Ireland public nudity is illegal. In theory at least, striding proudly around my native country in the buff, apart from scandalising passing grannies and inviting the jeers of hooligans and corner boys, could easily earn you 30 days in the local calaboose.

Hats off, then, to the 200 brave ladies of every age and shape, from all four corners of Erin's Isle, who gathered together this month on a beach in Sligo, in the shadow of Ben Bulben's mighty head, and divested themselves of every last stitch, then hurled themselves into the chilly Atlantic waters.

They call it A Dip in the Nip and they're not doing it to flaunt themselves in front of lascivious eyes, nor to moon the local constabulary, but to raise money for cancer charities.

Some of these women have suffered the ravages of the disease themselves, but for all of them, it takes nerve and courage, knowing that they'll be filmed and photographed. It's a brave, inspiring sight.

Go Topless Day
22nd August 2010
USA

This 19th anniversay of Gwen Jacob's arrest in Guelph, Ontario brings the announcement of the annual Go Topless day organized and promoted by gotopless.org.

Several cities are planned for topfree protests against women's inequality. This year's date is August 22.

One point of demonstrating there is that even though topfreedom for women is legal in New York, they're still subject to harassment for it; and of course it isn't legal in many places, which constitutes unjust discrimination against women.

Canadian nudists have complained bitterly after being threatened with arrest by a police officer at a remote beach.

We're tired of being the victims of prejudice and intolerance, Don Pitcairn, president of Surrey's United Naturists, said: A lady who came by was calling us perverts and child molesters.

The 28-member Surrey group was part of a North Americanwide attempt to beat a Guinness world record of 13,678 skinny-dippers set last year at 139 locations.

Surrey's numbers may have been paltry, but Pitcairn's outrage was in good supply. We were doing nothing wrong, he claimed, citing a section of the Criminal Code that permits nudity at isolated shorelines.

The beach is down a steep bluff, several hundred metres away from more popular bathing spots.

Police Cmdr. Steve Wade said police were acting on a complaint from a man about public nudity. The people at the beach were co-operative. Everything was nice and polite. There was no altercation. We will not go looking for it [nudity], but if there is a complaint, we will take appropriate action.

Pitcairn said the bathers put their clothes on when the female officer showed up, except for two women who refused to cover up, citing a Canadian Charter of Rights decision that permits females to bare their breasts.

Longtime Councillor Bob Bose said the police's presence may have elevated a relatively small matter into a much bigger one: Police don't have to take action, even when a complaint is made. I'm OK with what they're doing. I think we have to make accommodation for people with different interests than our own.

Asbury Park in New Jersey has shot down a proposal to allow women to go topless on one of its beaches.

After hearing a report from City Attorney Fred Raffetto that two city ordinances prohibit public nudity, including simply going topless, the City Council declined to consider the proposal any further.

There is no intention to change those ordinances, Mayor Ed Johnson said.

The idea was the brainchild of Reggie Flimlin who told Associated Press: It's a shame: They had a real opportunity here to embrace women's rights in Asbury Park. It's discouraging.

Supporters say the topless beach would revitalize tourism in Asbury Park and create a new buzz surrounding the resurgent beach town. But others worry it would scare away families who recently have started coming back to the once-famous resort.

The proposal would have enabled women to take off their tops on a beach in the city's north end. No other New Jersey beach permits topless bathing.

Grindr brought gay men together via the iPhone. Grindr 2.0 will aim at the straight sex market

The phenomenal success of a phone application that allows cruising gay men to locate one another instantly using GPS technology has led to plans for the release of a straight version by the end of the year.

The app, Grindr, which promises to help users Find gay, bi, curious guys for free near you!, launched in March 2009. It enjoyed a modest uptake in the UK until Stephen Fry showed it to Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, prompting 40,000 men to download the free iPhone app in a week.

There are now more than 700,000 men in 162 countries using it, with 2,000 downloading it every day. A Blackberry-friendly version was launched last month.

Users see a grid displaying photos of men and their proximity to them. If you like the look of someone, you can exchange flirty messages before meeting up immediately. One fan of the app told the Observer: I've probably had as much [sex] in the past eight months of Grinding as I have over the 20 years since I came out.

Grindr is the brainchild of Joel Simkhai, a 33-year-old American international relations and economics graduate who worked in finance in his twenties. It took him six months and $5,000 to build Grindr, with the help of a Danish app developer and a friend who was an expert in branding, marketing and design. It's about finding guys. Being among your peers. Socialising, he said.

The rapid success of Grindr is prompting Simkhai to launch a straight version. This notion of: 'Who is around me? Who is in this room now? Who else is like me?' – this is not just a gay thing. Gay men don't have the monopoly on loneliness and isolation.

In the days following the World Naked Bike Ride, which rode boisterously through Madison, Wisconsin, on June 19, championing alternative energy and body acceptance, several questions remain unanswered.

For cited participant Lea Zeise, one big question is: Does the Madison Police Department understand the meaning of the word genitalia?

Zeise was shocked that after following the instructions of Madison police to cover her genitalia during the event, she was later issued a citation, even though only her breast were uncovered.

I asked [the ticketing officer] what genitalia was, because I know the meaning of genitalia does not mean breasts or nipples, says Zeise. The officer informed her that all the riders had been warned plenty of times to cover up and she could dispute her disorderly conduct citation in court.

According to Zeise, early on in the event, the entire group of naked riders had been stopped by Madison Police officers and specifically instructed over a megaphone to cover their genitalia. Zeise begrudgingly, but dutifully, cooperated by covering her bottom-half with shorts, and then continued the ride only to be ticketed later.

I was fully ready to comply, but we never received a direct 'you need to have fully-covered breasts,' says Zeise, who was one of multiple women issued citations for being topless during the ride. Zeise also has concerns about the forceful manner in which she saw police officers force two naked female riders off of their bikes.

She's not alone in her complaint about the way police officers handled the event. Many of those who received $429 disorderly conduct citations say they intend to contest them in court.