Ireland is not ready to relax a so-called 'nipple rule' for women in public swimming spaces.
Journalist and Author Suzanne Harrington was speaking after Berlin's public swimming pool rules were updated to let women go topless.
The decision was made after a woman made a discrimination complaint to an ombudsman's office demanding the same rights as men when it comes to going topless.
In reaction to the complaint, the Berliner Baederbetriebe, which runs the city's public pools, decided to change its rules for swimming attire.
Ms Harrington told Newstalk Breakfast there are cultural differences.
"There's a long-standing culture in Germany and northern Europe around naturism, where it's not a big deal," she said.
"It's not like shock-horror - whereas I think because of our fairly recent history in Ireland around shame, then losing the shame and sexualising everything, I don't know if we're ready.
"It would be great if we were, I think it would be fantastic to desexualise the nipple and just make it normal.
"In Germany... they're not hung up on the female nipple".
'Cultural interpretation'
Suzanne said sexualisation of the female nipple is also down to culture.
"I think it would be terrific if we did follow Berlin's lead - and maybe we will slowly," she said.
"Sexualisation of the female nipple is not innate; there's a lot of culture's where it's just a thing to feed babies.
"It's very pleasurable to swim with as little clothes on as possible.
"Anybody who has swam without clothes on - the less clothes you have on, the less covering, the more pleasurable it feels.
"The same with sauna culture in northern Europe.
"I've sat in a sauna with 30 or 40 people, everybody is completely naked and it's considered weird if you're not.
"It is very much a cultural interpretation of what's OK and what isn't OK.
"It becomes almost invisible; when everybody is naked or nude, the body parts don't become sexualised - they just become bodies," she added.
