The belly button debate, an Indian perspective.

by Marlies Dekkers
To show or not to show, that’s the question when it comes to belly buttons. While Taylor Swift vowed to never (ever, ever!) show hers, Indian women feel very different about it.

“Does my bum look big in this?” If we may believe the makers of commercials and the average sitcoms, this is women’s number one concern. But in reality –and I’m speaking from decades of experience as a lingerie designer- women seem to worry much more about their bellies. “Will it make my belly look big/fat/flabby? Am I too old to show my belly button?” are the kind of questions I hear when we discuss the proportions of panties and bikini bottoms. I have no hang-ups about my body myself, but I do very much sympathize. When a lover touches my stomach for the very first time, it’s an incredibly intimate moment. I feel like they touch my soul.

The first time I visited India, I saw bellies everywhere. And not just on glamorous Bollywood stars wearing short cholis (crop tops) with low waisted skirts. Six packs or love handles, it didn’t seem to matter; women of all ages and all sizes showed their midriffs. I was mesmerized. “For Indian women, the midriff is considered no more suggestive than the forearm,” someone explained, adding that in a culture where having enough to eat is not a given, a ‘muffin top’ is nothing to be ashamed of.

Reading up on it, I found out that in ancient Indian tradition, the navel of the God Vishnu the Protector is considered to be the center of the universe. In other words; the belly button is seen as sacred, rather than sexual. In Rajastan for example, women often cover their heads and even their faces in front of strangers, but they have no problem showing showing their midriff.

Which proves once again: concepts of beauty and modesty are very much relative. And so on the one hand, we have Indian brides wearing colourful saris that expose their bellies, and on the other hand 25-year-old American pop star Taylor Swift prudishly vowing never to show her belly button. (“I don’t want people to know if I have one or not. I want that to be a mystery,” she said in a recent interview.) Either way, these ladies following their gut feeling. Which is always a good thing.

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La marque marlies|dekkers offre un large choix de lingerie fine et sexy qui peut être portée par n’importe quelle femme et qui correspondra parfaitement à ses besoins. Sur notre blog Maison Marlies vous pourrez en savoir plus sur ce qui se passe en coulisses chez marlies|dekkers. Que vous souhaitiez en savoir plus sur la créatrice, son style de vie, ses idées de recettes saines ou bien son style incroyable, vous trouverez tout cela sur le blog. Cette femme d’affaire arrive à trouver le temps d’écrire à propos de ses voyages d’affaires, de ses virées shopping et de ses vacances quand elle a le temps de se reposer. Et même en étant en vacances, elle prend le temps de vous raconter tout ça.

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Les célébrités sont aussi heureuses de porter le parfait soutien-gorge marlies|dekkers. Ces femmes montrent fièrement leurs ensembles lingerie marlies|dekkers dans les shooting photo des magazines, sur scène, lors d’émission tv ou bien sur grand-écran. La Maison Marlies a dédié un espace spécial sur son blog pour parler des inégalités homme-femme qui persistent, mais aussi des évolutions et progrès. Marlies souhaite l’égalité homme-femme dans le monde et en fait sa mission.