What’s So Sexy About Belly Buttons?

Source: Steve Baker, photographer/Flickr

Academic journals examining the psychological and sexual attributes of the human navel are almost nonexistent. Fortunately, Wikipedia’s extensive, and even scholarly, coverage of the subject deftly fills this gap. In discussing the diverse aspects of the navel—biologically, erotically, historically, socially, culturally, and even spiritually, this encyclopedic Web tool includes well over 500 references.

In my attempts to verify the multifaceted contents in Wikipedia’s entries on what we’re all born with, I checked many of the sources it cites. I found its capsule summaries commendably accurate. (Readers can assume that unless I’m citing a source other than Wikipedia, the material here has been adapted from that vast “almanac” of facts.)

The navel—recognized, clinically, as the umbilicus and, colloquially, as the belly button or tummy button—is a hollowed or, much less commonly, raised area on the abdomen at the attachment site of the umbilical cord. To employ the vernacular, the so-called “innees” (hollowed variety) represent about 90 percent of us; the “outies” (raised) at 10 percent. Located at the center of the body, it can also be seen, literally and symbolically, as the center of, or central to, the biological basis of life—or the very giving of life.

As seen by one initialed P. D. in "Erogenous Zone: Belly Button Is Like a Small Vagina!":

Evolutionary psychologists believe that all men are instinctively attracted to body orifices, and even though the belly button is not exactly an orifice [despite its collecting lint!], it is still an object of desire. Because of the visual similarity between the belly button and female sexual organs, psychologist Dr. Elmar Basse explained for German Bild that the navel is a “small vagina,” which makes it hard to resist for men.

[And, entering the realm of the risqué, the author adds]: The belly button has always stirred the imagination of lovers. A little hollow hole in the middle of the body is just the right shape for the tongue and fingers, a nipple is also welcome, and even a penis can always lean against it. If the belly button is curved on the outside, it makes it even more tempting to play with.

The Navel’s Ever-Growing Popularity

From all over the world, and from earliest recorded history, writers and artists have identified the navel as an important erogenous zone. Given the particular country and time period, at its extremes it’s been viewed as sexually taboo—something to be hidden, shunned or censored; or it’s seen as an object of admiration, to be celebrated. Ironically, it’s been envisaged not simply as erotic but as mystical as well.

Regardless of how it’s perceived, it’s almost impossible to read any piece on the subject stating that it isn’t somehow an erogenous zone. In fact, several authors have assessed its status here as “underrated.” Still, this body part has received mixed reviews as far back as I could trace it. This quote from Wikipedia should be suggestive:

The public exposure of the male and female midriff and bare navel has been taboo at times in Western cultures, being considered immodest or indecent. It was banned in some jurisdictions; however, the community perceptions have changed and exposure of female midriff and navel is more accepted today...In some societies or contexts, it is both fashionable and common, though not without its critics.

While the West was relatively resistant to midriff-baring clothing until the 1980s, it has long been a fashion with Indian women [witness the low-rise sari exposing the navel]. The Japanese [too] have long had a special [and favorable] regard for the navel.

There’s certainly no question that the navel has become increasingly prominent in showcasing our most alluring celebrities. As reported in Wikipedia, the most popular bellybuttons on BellyInc are those belonging to Emily Ratajkowski, Paris Hilton, and Vanessa Hudgens. If you know anything about Madonna, you probably know that she seems almost obsessed with displaying her navel, which can be identified as her performance trademark. Her own unashamed erotic attraction to it is best revealed in a 1985 interview in Spin, in which she confessed: “My favorite button is my belly button. I have the most perfect belly button...When I stick my finger in [it], I feel a nerve in the center of my body shoot up my spine.”

Source: Sonny & Cher Show, 1977/Wikipedia Commons

Perhaps the most notable breakthrough in America regarding woman’s navel to be featured in entertainment came with Cher, in the '70s “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.” This may be why People magazine dubbed her the “Pioneer of the Belly Beautiful.” By the late '80s, even ultra-conservative Disney movies began exposing more flesh. In 1989, Ariel in The Little Mermaid dared to flash her navel.

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Following Cher’s lead, many performers have gladly bared their bellybuttons, the best known of whom probably include Shania Twain, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, and Britney Spears.

The British actress Keira Knightley has stated that her navel piercing is what won her a role in Love Actually because Richard Curtis, the director, was obsessed with her belly button. Moreover, when her character in that film got married, her wedding dress was specifically designed to expose her bellybutton.

In contemporary literature, the distinguished Chilean-American novelist Isabel Allende, in a chapter on eggs, wrote: “I like a raw egg served on my lover’s navel, with chopped onions, salt, pepper, lemon and a drop of Tabasco.” And as weird as this “fictional dish” might seem, many a writer has noted the erotic, gastronomic delight of a lover’s placing various sweets on the navel and proceeding to lick and suck them off.

Source: Shakira--Live Paris/Flickr

Gregorio Luke, a former director of the Museum of Latin American Art who gave lectures on this body part, has stated: “The belly button has been a sign of beauty in goddesses as different as Astarte, Venus, or Aphrodite. We ask which is more beautiful, the perfectly round belly button of Jane Fonda or Raquel Welch’s grain of coffee navel? Every star from Madonna to Shakira proudly displays the belly button.”

And film scholar Kathi Mahesh, observing that Telugu cinema has long shown a “fondness for the navel,” remarks: “Cinematically, while cleavage is just a peek at the bosom, the navel encompasses the woman’s entire sensuality."

Fashion trends have been spotlighting the navel as well. Most notable today are cropped tops that leave both the midriff and belly button exposed. Navels have also been freely “liberated” through plunging neckline dresses or tops descending below the natural waistline.

Additionally, navel piercings and tattoos have become increasingly common, not just among young women but also those in middle-age. Such embellishments clearly draw one’s eyes to the belly button, enhancing its seductive appeal. Plus, although the bikini was once more or less limited to swimwear, bikini-like tops have become increasingly prevalent—in sportswear, where they’re unabashedly donned by cheerleaders; female tennis players; and gymnasts. Not to mention everyday women working out.

What Makes Belly Buttons Erogenous?

It’s already been mentioned that with a little imagination the female navel might be seen as a miniature vagina. But what, exactly, contributes to its unusual sensuality? And why, for some men, is it such a turn-on?

In so many ways, today’s culture has accentuated women's belly buttons like never before. Evidence suggests, however, that the midriff itself has perennially captured the male’s lascivious interests. It is doubtless that our midsections literally revolve around the navel so that it can be viewed as conspicuously highlighting the area that surrounds it.

I’d wager that far fewer men would be aroused by the sight of a navel alone, seen close-up. But as regards sexual activity relating to the navel, that’s another story. Males who focus on the navel as a source of sexual arousal and gratification are seen as belly button fetishists, and it’s reported that this body part is actually one of the most common fetishisms worldwide; in 2012 it was the second most popular fetish search on Google.

From any number of vantage points, various websites attempt to explain the navel’s allure, as well as examine the neurological aspects of its attraction. Wikipedia says:

The navel is an erogenous zone with a heightened sensitivity. The navel and the region below, when touched by the finger or the tip of the tongue, result in the production of erotic sensations, and some people are very ticklish to touch in that area [i.e., don’t simply assume that stimulating this area will sexually titillate your partner—they might also start giggling, distracting them and possibly undermining their carnal arousal]. Some people can be aroused by tickling, licking, blowing raspberries/zerberts (blowing air with lips), and teasing with a feather, flower or a piece of grass, especially when the person is ticklish in the navel. Fingering the navel is also a common act.

Wikipedia also depicts several forms of sadistic/masochistic “navel torture” on the part of some belly button fetishists (formally known as umbiliphiliacs). But I’ll spare the reader details of this, I’d think, displeasing perversity.

Expanding on Wikipedia, let’s take a look at how other websites specifically portray the navel:

Located within teasing distance of the genitals, a woman’s belly button is a potent sexual trigger...It is an area between the bladder wall and the vagina which consists of nerves that feed down into the entire genital area. This explains why titillating her belly button and its surrounding area can often be felt in her vaginal canal and vice versa.

I guess you can say they are like a third nipple.

The navel is an odd, but powerful, erogenous zone. When someone pokes inside or around a belly button, some people may feel erotic sensations. That’s because the navel and genitals have a common tissue origin. For some, the stimulation feels like a tickle—down there. For others, it sort of feels like they have to pee.

Simply viewing the bellybutton area can be a sexual trigger. From a heterosexual man’s point of view, seeing the exposed navel and surrounding area can be very attractive. It accentuates a woman’s waistline, her curves, and brings out the beauty and fertility of a woman’s body. The charm of the belly button has been used over the centuries to stir desire within men and women alike.

The abdominal part of the body responds well to different kinds of simulation. The lower part of the abdomen is especially sensitive because of the vicinity of sexual organs. Belly button, the center of the human body, should not be overlooked on our way down to the pubic region. Despite an instinct[ual] attraction to the belly button, only a few people know that is is also an erogenous zone.

And might all this selected data on the human navel be ample to satisfy your possible curiosity?

© 2017 Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.