# Why do women dress to expose their Belly Buttons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483 "2001-08-01T15:17:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/41 "2001-08-03T12:46:33Z")
**Eve** said: > [@](#): > > Well, I have been known to flash a glimpse of shapely ankle as I climb aboard the trolley. How the Sidewalk Shieks on 23rd Street love it! Kudos for understanding that often what you don’t show is far sexier than what you show! I love my wife, but oh you kid! 23-Skidoo! OTOH, I certainly appreciate glimpsing a cute li’l belly button now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/42 "2001-08-04T23:55:57Z")
Dressing to expose the midriff is even more of a competitive thing than dressing to showcase breasts. Virtually no woman thinks her boobs are big enough, or if she does, she’ll temper that by saying they’re too low or not shaped well. Truth is, almost any set is attractive in its own way; just takes the right bra/shirt combo. Tummies, OTOH, only look good exposed if they’re tight and free of flab. A woman who exposes her midriff, and consequently her navel, is saying “I’m disciplined and strong, and I put a lot of time and effort into these abs. You just got lucky, or got a Wonderbra, so 😛 on you.” I was the envy of my middle school, and since then, many a locker room or swimming expedition. But I haven’t exposed my navel, except in a swimsuit, in years. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ferggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Ferggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferggie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/43 "2001-08-05T04:54:09Z")
Hah! I know my breasts are plenty big enough! Good and round! The only problem is…the rest of my body matches. No exposed bellybutton for me… ---
**Author:** ![Shogun\_Haircut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Shogun\_Haircut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shogun_Haircut)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/44 "2001-08-05T05:00:48Z")
To give guys something else to stair at ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/45 "2001-08-05T20:22:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sengkelat \* > \*\*Or, she could be making it all up, and actually got the belly button ring implanted to scare away persistent remoras. \*\* I smell band name!!! The Persisten Remoras! ---
**Author:** ![Shame\_s\_Joys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Shame\_s\_Joys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shame_s_Joys)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/46 "2001-08-06T01:17:22Z")
The exposed midriff looks to me like one more fashion trend the West has borrowed from India. Along with the backless blouse, the one-shouldered look (like a sari), and the _mehndi_ craze. Sometimes non-Indians wonder about the traditional costume of the Indian woman, the short blouse she wears under her sari that exposes her middle. Why is her bare belly revealed? It is not for sexy allure, but in honor of the fertility of her womb that bears children. To show reverence to femininity and motherhood through the womb (_yoni_) is a very ancient Indian tradition; Tantra is one highly developed form of this reverence to the _yoni_. The tradition is not limited to Tantra, however, but diffused throughout the culture. To this day, when an Indian man greets and embraces his mother (or an older female relative equivalent to his mother), he presses his face into her belly to pay homage to the womb where his life began. ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/47 "2001-08-06T01:27:31Z")
Because they collect lint and stuff, they need to be aired out regularly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/48 "2001-08-06T04:06:26Z")
People, we’ve got a lot of theories here about why women expose their bellybuttons but let’s face the facts. Women began exposing their bellybuttons back in 1970 when the Venusians invaded with their army of cloned pod-women in an evil plot to collect all our Earth semen. The only way to tell the difference between a real Earth woman and a Venusian clone was because they had two bellybuttons and the fashion of exposing bellybuttons just caught on from there. Am I the only one who remembers this? Am I? Really? Am I the only one who didn’t listen to the warnings about bad acid at Woodstock? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/49 "2001-08-06T04:42:35Z")
Because it is against the law to expose the others. ---
**Author:** ![JadedNaive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@JadedNaive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JadedNaive)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/50 "2001-08-06T05:17:22Z")
My high school didn’t allow the belly butten to show. I think that technically, if you could lift your arms up high and any midriff showed, you were out of dress code. But then, there aren’t a lot of women’s shirts that pass, at least no that teenagers would wear. I hate dress codes. . . AAR, I wish I had a flat enough tummy to show my belly button, but I don’t have the time or discipline to do five hundred crunches a day. For a while in high school I tried doing a daily regimin of abdominal exercises, with marginal success, but I got discouraged by how scant the results for so much effort. In short, women who bare their belly buttons are just good-for nothing showoffs! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/51 "2001-08-06T06:09:26Z")
They do it for me. MEEEEEEE!!! And the reason it’s sexy is because exposure of flesh that is normally kept covered is sexy. ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/52 "2001-08-06T13:46:38Z")
Una thinks it’s hot & that’s good enough for me… ;). ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/53 "2001-08-06T15:40:05Z")
Like people have previously stated, it’s to be cute and/or to show off hard work keeping their belly perfect. I don’t show mine off. I’m too flabby. Maybe someday when I’ve lost all the weight I want to and I have tight abs [sub]like that day will ever arrive without surgical intervention[/sub] I’ll think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Aye1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@Aye1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aye1)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/54 "2017-12-01T16:21:58Z")
I can not answer fo all female, but I do exposed my bell, not always, as far as my concern, I love it and like it in summer, in gyms and a n vacation, feel sexy attractive, anyway it’s a common thing. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483/55 "2017-12-01T16:46:39Z")
> [@Aye1](#): > > I can not answer fo all female, but I do exposed my bell, not always, as far as my concern, I love it and like it in summer, in gyms and a n vacation, feel sexy attractive, anyway it’s a common thing. Stop opening very old threads unless you have new information to add. This thread is full of posters who no longer post here. Do not do this again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-women-dress-to-expose-their-belly-buttons/74483.md?page=2)