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A study revealed the belly button men are most attracted to (and the reason why is... interesting).
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Last updated on Jan 06, 2023
Belly buttons and sex appeal.
Those are two phrases I never thought I'd seen in the same sentence. I mean, unless I was at some indie rock show and some terrible new bands were sharing top billing and thought such names were sexy.
After all, what could possible be deemed "sexy" about a belly button? Maybe I'm just scared from watching the dried up umbilical stumps of my siblings blacken and fall off, but ew man, belly buttons are not a thing which screams raw sex to me. In fact, if we could do away with belly buttons altogether, I'd be cool with that.
I'm not looking to eradicated the connection between fetus and mother (because I am not a spiteful robot bent on mass human subjugation, nor am I Taylor Swift). That's sweet!
But the mark it leaves on our guts doesn't seem to serve a real purpose other than to develop a mysterious bad smell in the summer months or as a showcase for jewelry mainly procured during spring break at Daytona beach.
It turns out that I might be the minority when it comes to belly button thoughts, because research has shown that not only do men find belly buttons attractive, but there is a certain belly button shape they are drawn to more than others.
University of Helsinki researcher Aki Sinkkonen conducted a study on the attractivenes of belly buttons according to their shape. In doing so, he found that a specific type of belly button actually makes a woman more sexually appealing as a partner.
What do men think is the most attractive belly button shape?
Men prefer belly buttons that are T-shaped or oval and have a little hooding. In contrast, they don't prefer severe outties, and they aren't particularly drawn to deep innies.
This makes me sad, because I've got an innie so deep that if it had a speaking voice it would probably be James Earl Jones.
Why does the shape of your belly button matter to a potential mate?
Sinkkonen thinks men's preference for T-shaped belly buttons has something to do with it signaling reproductive fitness.
“I suggest that the symmetry, shape, and position of umbilicus can be used to estimate the reproductive potential of fertile females, including risks of certain genetically and maternally inherited fetal anomalies,” Sinkonnen wrote in his initial findings.
This might explain why I, as a straight female, have never once scoped out a man's belly and been like "daaaaamn son, your belly button has got me all hot and bothered with sexy."
In fact, I do not think I have actively considered the belly button of any single person I have dated.
But it turns out, they've definitely been scoping mine.
Thanks for nothing, evolutionary reproductive science!
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Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer and the former Senior Editor of Pop Culture at Newsweek with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, and true crime.