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
Cultural views on the navel covered by jewelry as seen when the fringe from her top was not covering it. In 1969, Mariette Hartley was not allowed to show her belly button in "" (1969), the penultimate episode of Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek". Gene had Mariette expose not one but two belly buttons in the sci-fi film "Genesis II" (1973). In "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" (1971–74), network censors feared Cher's navel exposure would become a cause célèbre at CBS. Cher once commented, "There were so many things that were censored—ideas and words. All I know is I got in trouble for showing my