It Really Is Just a Belly Button Piercing!

Ok, I have a confession to make, one that seems very inconsequential, but for some reason has gotten me some very strong responses from people – feminist and non-feminist alike. Allow me to state some background before I begin…
During high school and college, I got a few select piercings – I have 5 my left ear, 6 in my right, and had my nose, navel, and upper lip (Monroe) pierced. When I began law school, I removed the nose and Monroe piercings out of a sense of “professionalism,” I suppose. I kept the ears and navel in. Now, I often wear long jewelry in the navel piercing, so on some days, it’s pretty clear that I DO have my belly button pierced. And sometimes, this leads to some very interesting interactions.

Now, with the exception of some people much older than me, I rarely get comments on my ears, even though they are far more exposed than my navel and have many more actual pieces of jewelry in them, I get comments on the navel, it seems, a lot more. And a lot of them are along the lines of “why would you do that?” or “Do you want men to look at you more?” I am not suggesting that my feminist or progressive friends are anti-piercing. In fact, they are usually among the most open-minded people I know on the topic of body-mods and often have a few themselves. I just find it interesting that a pierced belly button, as opposed to other piercings, seems to carry with it such a sexually loaded meaning, it seems. I also kind of resent the idea that it is a “trendy” piercing that one no longer gets for simple individual reasons. I got mind because it’s pretty, sparkly, and I think the jewelry I can get for it is cute. That’s it. I did not do it because Britney Spears did it, or any other public figure. I did not do it because it is a popular piercing in the sex or adult industry, or anything of the like. My reasons were far more simplistic.
I know a lot has been said on this site about “fun feminism” and setting how it’s wrong to set beauty standards, no matter who they come from. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is this – I think a pierced belly button is sometimes nothing more than what it is. It doesn’t mean a woman has low morals or should be regardless as loose, but nor does it mean that she wants male attention or plays to the male gaze all the time. Sometimes, it really is just a piercing that a woman (or man!) wants to get and does so. I don’t think it carries any real other meaning besides that. Is a navel piercing a feminist act? I don’t think so, but I don’t think its anti-feminist either, even if a woman likes to walk around with her midriff exposed. I understand that sometimes, we should attach meaning to actions and events in our lives, but I think this is one that should just be left alone.
I don’t know, though, if this experience is universal or if I am seeing something that isn’t really there. If something is attractive to many men (like a navel piercing) or is capable of carrying a sexualized message with it, I don’t think that should preclude women from doing it, if they so desire to.