I Must Ask . . . Innie or Outie?

If you're born again, do you have two belly buttons? –Unknown

There were lots of people with vision correction last week and it seems that the method of choice is glasses. Glasses are quick and easy and they get the job done. You put them on, and bam! You can see. Glasses can be a fun accessory or even a reflection of your personality. Every time I take the Little Bugs to get their eyes checked I try on about fifty different frames looking for just the right ones for my next pair of back-up glasses. I haven't found them yet. I've had had my back-up glasses for close to six years now. When I put them on, I remind me a little bit of my grandma on my dad's side. The trouble with glasses comes when you can't find where you put them, or if they get scratched or bent or broken. Contacts are more high maintenance, but three of us brave them every day. I can see so much better with them. One person was brave enough to have lasik surgery. And to the three people who won the draw in the genetics lottery, count yourselves lucky!

Today's topic is a silly one; belly buttons. Innies seem to be the most common, so I asked Mr. Google what causes an outie, because he knows everything. Well, he knows everything except for what causes an outie belly button. There were only suppositions {umbilical hernia and extra skin in the healing process} and not really any solid answers. But I learned a whole lot about belly buttons that I didn't know before. Like there are 1,400 strains of bacteria in a human belly button. Makes you want to find the Clorox wipes, doesn't it?

Something that I'd never stopped to consider is that a belly button is actually a scar. It is a socially acceptable scar, but a scar nonetheless. It is a scar that people like to adorn and show off. But before bare midriffs, low rise jean and belly button piercings and tattoos, belly buttons were once censored. Joan Collins had to wear a jewel in her belly button in the 1950's film Land of the Pharoahs. And Barbara Eden's Jeannie costume had to cover her button completely. Cher was the first to show her belly button on TV during the 70's and she got in trouble for it. In 1989, Ariel from The Little Mermaid was the first Disney character, animated or otherwise to show a belly button.

I thought it was interesting what Ann Landers had to say on the subject, “I do not believe any female of good taste would wear an outfit where her navel shows. This does not include women in costumes or those on beaches in bikinis. The same goes for males. An adult male who wears hip-huggers so low rates zero minus 10 on the scale of taste — it's my opinion but it's one I feel strongly about.” Times and trends have changed. On most days you see at least one belly button that is not your own. Regardless, you'll never my belly button.

It's an innie, in case you were wondering.

And now, I must ask . . . is your belly button an innie or an outie?