Cultural views on the navel Early Japanese poems feature many references to the female navel. In some, the word "navel" actually refers to an indentation or hole instead of the belly button. The shape of the umbilicus of a newborn baby would be discussed at length. If a baby's navel points downward, the parents would brace themselves for a weakling child who will bring them woe. The thunder god Raijin, with his terrifying drums, great horns, and long tusks, was said to have an insatiable appetite for young navels, and mothers had to nag their youngsters constantly to keep themselves well covered up. Due to
Navel fetishism co-exists with stomach fetishism or alvinolagnia. Navel fetishism may co-exist with sadomasochism since some navel fetishists prefer to perform or receive navel torture. Some prefer to engage in physical intercourse, which is commonly linked to weight-related stomach fetishes like BBW, feederism, and belly expansion. During the late nineties, there was a small but thriving online group of belly button fetish sites. These sites were maintained by individuals and usually hosted on third-party forum sites like ProBoards or InsideTheWeb. Each forum catered to a unique variation on the fetish, but were mostly the same in that they had individual boards for