Style in Sweden

Many gay people fortunately don’t hide their sexuality anymore. However, I read in the German lifestyle magazine Neon that some gay men started avoiding this topic again – but not because of shame and outmoded traditional values. They are annoyed by ‘gayophile’ women who desperately seek a gay best friend to use him as fashionable accessory, according to the magazine. Queer is cool!

I thought about this article since I have quite a lot of gay friends. When I was in high school I took dancing lessons and almost every guy who continued after the basic course was gay (I don’t like clichés but that’s actually true). Anyway, I made lots of gay friends there so that I started to go to gay prides and clubs when I was 17. Here in Sweden I don’t know so many gay people but sometimes I still go to the clubs. The music is fantastic (Madonna is best!) and there are no annoying men who don’t understand that I role my eyes and don’t wink at them.

Of course women love partying with their gay friends! It’s not just about that the most popular clubs are gay clubs like the Berghain in Berlin or that many gay men are interested in so-called ‘female topics’ such as fashion. It is also a certain statement and way of life that is conveyed if a woman goes to a party with her gay friend: I’m independent but not alone!

There are for sure some women who consider their gay best friends as fashionable accessories and that’s of course not ok. However, most women who ask their gay friends if they want to be their ‘plus one’ don’t have in mind to pep up their outfit. I think it is more likely that they don’t want to go alone to a party full of couples. Or what about the possibility that they like their gay friends and want to spend time with them??

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Swedish guys are known for their good taste when it comes to clothes. I have often heart that Finnish guys call them gay because of their interest in style. Generally I also think that many Swedish guys put a lot of effort and time into their outfit and, yes, many of them indeed look great. There is just one thing that confuses me every summer here: being topless…everywhere.

Maybe it is just my personal impression but I have the feeling that, as soon as it becomes warmer outside, Swedish guys throw their fantastic shirts away and prefer the more airy variant. I have seen topless guys at the supermarket, gas station, on their bikes, just everywhere. Moreover, it is not just one type of guy who likes to strip to the waist. You see all kinds of bodies from the six-pack stomach to the beer belly.

I’m wondering if it is more socially accepted if guys are topless in Sweden. Maybe I’m wrong but I think topless guys in Germany are more rare if they are not at the beach, drunk on Mallorca or working on some construction site.

I love clothes. Of course I prefer the well-dressed variant! But if I’m right and topless guys are more accepted in Sweden I’m wondering why. Maybe it’s the old weather story that provides explanations for every kind of Swedish behaviour. It’s getting warmer and everybody is so glad and avid for sun that they think the less clothes the better.

Or maybe Swedish guys just didn’t get the message of the Swedish feminist movement “Bara Bröst” (it literally means both ‘bare breasts’ and ‘just breasts’) who has fought for the right that women are allowed to bathe topless at public swimming pools. Who knows?

However, I am thankful if men at the supermarket counter wear a shirt!

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