Swedish technical journal shocks with busty front cover

One of Sweden's most august technical magazines has caused uproar with the front cover of its Christmas edition, reported Svenska Dagbladet.

• 102-year-old seeks to ditch legal guardian (30 Jul 10)
• Baking prisoner banned over booze fears (28 Jul 10)
• Glitch makes losing impossible at web casino (28 Jul 10)

Osqledaren, the magazine of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, decided to replace its traditional abstract illustrated front cover with something a little more eye-catching: a buxom topless blonde.

With a circulation of 18,000, Osqledaren is Sweden's most popular student journal and the country's second most popular technical magazine.

In recent years the college, where just 25 percent of the students are female, has attempted to shed its geeky, blokey reputation. But the magazine may have undone much of the work.

According to SvD there have already been numerous complaints from both male and female students, who saw the headline, 'The naked truth', as a poor excuse for such a fruity front cover.

"I just feel that it is unnecessary and embarrassing for Osqledaren," said Hanna Eiderbrant, one of the founders of KTH's women's network, Carpe Competencia, to SvD.

"I thought they were smarter than this."

But the editor of the magazine, 21 year old Dunja Vujovic, was defiant, pointing out that a 1997 edition of the magazine featuring some uncovered flesh also caused a bit of a stir at the time.

"But whatever we do at Osqledaren, there are always people who have opinions, both positive and negative," she told SvD.

She added that the fact that the photo was cut off at the head gave it an artistic, statue-like quality.

Osqledaren was first published in 1959 and is completely funded by advertising.