Asian Belly Buttons: Are You An Innie or Outie?

By Koji Steven | Tuesday, June 28, 2011 | 13 Comments

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My wife and I are expecting a child at the end of the year. We’ve started to discuss things like what type of crib we want to buy, whether we should circumcise or not, and what kind of college they should go to when they turn 10. The one question that my wife and I hadn’t discussed was innie or outie belly button. So I asked her, what do we want?

You see, I was under the mistaken impression that we had a choice or that it was determined by genetics. My wife told me that I was an idiot and that it was based on the doctor and that neither we nor genetics had a choice in the matter.

I didn’t believe her. So I went online and Googled it.

According to Wikipedia:

In humans, the scar can appear as a depression (often referred to colloquially as an innie) or as a protrusion (outie). Although they can be separated into these two categories, navels actually vary quite widely among people in terms of size, shape, depth/length, and overall appearance. As navels are scars, and not in any way defined by genetics, they can serve as a way of distinguishing between identical twins in the absence of other identifiable marks.

But is Wikipedia for real? Because I can’t think of a single Asian person I know who has an outie. I even checked my belly button and it is indeed an innie. My wife has an innie. My brother has innie. I’m pretty sure my mother and my father have innies as well. I posted a Facebook status update asking my Asian friends if they had outies and everyone told me they had innies.

Is this just a coincidence?

I searched and searched on the Internet and found a few people on random forums who said they “saw” Asian people with an outie or had one themselves. Here is an example of what I found:

Gwen wrote: My bellybutton is an innie, but my cousin had an outie, which totally fascinated me, as it was the only one I had ever seen like that. She is Japanese, and I assumed that all Asian people had outies, a fact that I became very jealous about since it seemed more interesting than my innie. Whenever I was around someone Asian, I would ask to see their bellybutton. After I was told that was a rude thing to ask, I would just try to get a sneaky look at it. I was shocked when I first saw a non-Asian person with an outie!

But with no picture evidence I’m still skeptical. I mean, I could find more people who claim that they saw Big Foot than people who have seen Asian men or women with outies.

Okay, I admit I found one picture. The woman on the right seems to have an outie (and the title confirms it). But she’s facing sideways and it’s not totally clear if it really is an outie. Even if it is, it says something that there are billions of pictures on the Internet of Asian people and I can only find one picture of an Asian person with an outie? What gives? Is this some global conspiracy that I don’t know about? Isn’t this something we should be talking about?

Maybe it’s because people with outies are ashamed. Umbilicoplasty (or turning an outie to an innie) has become one of the most popular surgical procedures in the last ten years. I don’t think outies are unattractive; it’s just not my preference. I’m not prejudiced; I think I’m just used to innies. However, if the Internet is any indication of what people “prefer” my very un-scientific research would indicate that innies are “in” and outies are “out.”

However, Asian people with outies should NOT be ashamed of who they are. Stand up. Be proud of your body. So as a community service, I’m going to provide a forum for all the Asian folks with an outie (and at the same time confirm that you do in fact exist). Send me a picture (Koji[at]8asians.com) of your face and your outie belly button (in one shot) and I’ll post them. Please, no naked pictures. Look forward to an inbox full of outies.

[“Outie” Photo by Maxx Manboeuf]

Categories:

Health

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

Elliott

Look, I’m not trying to be judgmental or nothin’ but let’s face it, outies ARE weird. Ever since I was a kid I’ve always thought outies look like the beginning stages of an alien bursting out from someone’s tummy (or the final stages of an alien burrowing into someone’s tummy with a bit of the tail sticking out).

Just kidding, outies are cool. BTW I think one of my best buddies has an outie. I believe he was born in Australia… maybe that has to do with something?
jboee

When your child is born the nurse will clamp the umbilical cord shut using one or two disposable plastic clamps. You or the doctor will then cut the umbilical cord from the placenta. The remaining stump will be about 2-3 cm long. When your wife and the baby are ready to leave the hospital, the discharge nurse will cut the plastic clamps off at the seam. The umbilical stump will be sufficently dried at this point that the clamped end will remain sealed. It will be another 1-2 weeks before the stump sufficiently dries out and falls off on its own. As gross as it sounds now, you will likely want to save the stump and put it in the baby book. The discharge nurse will provide you with instructions on how to keep the stump dry and clean and how to administer sponge baths to avoid injuring/getting the stump wet. Once the stump falls off, the pediatrician will check the belly button at both the 2 week and 1 month check-up to ensure the belly button is fully closed. On occasion, the umbilical stump falls off before the scare is fully healed. This usually does not pose a problem. Very rarely, a child will develop an umbilical hernia. This is when the intestines or abdominal lining tries to push out through the unclosed umblicial opening. This is very rare. Also very rarely, the stump may get infected. If this happens, your pediatrician will give you instructions on how to treat it and also have you monitor the baby for the development of a fever. Infections of the belly button are semi-serious b/c the umbilical wound is a direct, open wound to the babies abdomine and internal organs. If your child develops a fever of 100.4, s/he must be taken to the ER where a spinal tap will be performed. This last scenario rarely happens.

As you can see through this process, there is no way to choose whether your child ends up with an innie or outie. It is simply how the open wound heals up. Regardless of whether your child ends up with an innie or outie, you will simply be thankful that the wound healed up without any problem. I doubt the NIH will fund a study to determine whether their is a racial/ethnic link to the shape of one’s belly button.
KojiStevenSakai

@Elliott hmm… alien tail sticking out? I’ll tell people that the next time I see an outie.
BreakingTheBow

Not my opinion–someone told me that those with outies were mostly poor people who weren’t given the information to clean it properly. I really don’t know either way.
mseymore

My 7-year-old daughter, who is Chinese and who was born in China (don’t know whether she was born in a hospital or at home since she was abandoned soon after birth) has an outie. Cute as can be, but can’t send a picture for fear of someone yelling “child porn!”
brandontan

Interesting, I’ve always thought it was genetics.. I’m an innie myself but I’ve definitely seen both innies and outies on Asians, so I’m not sure if its an Asian thing…
ellebee11

i don’t think a belly button piercing looks as good on an outie. wait…can an outie have a piercing? I don’t know any belly dancers that have outies. So for the sake of not limiting your child’s career choices – make sure it’s an innie by cleaning it properly.
mwei

@ellebee11 lol little girls might aspire to be pole dancers, being athletes for the sport that is.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35524563/ns/world_news-weird_news/t/are-olympics-ready-pole-dancing/
http://www.8asians.com/author/akrypti/ akrypti

You are objectifying belly buttons. Petition.
ellebee11

@mwei good point. it is sooooo much more of a sport than ice dancing and rhythmic gymnastics. I don’t know why pole dancing is not already part of the Olympics yet. I fear the judges will subconsciously discriminate against pole dancing athletes with outies. Also, I think outies makes you look at least 10 lbs heavier, and innies shed at least 5 lbs from your appearance. Thus, an outie will never get gold in the pole dancing competition b/c the world cannot have a fat gold medalist. it’s a lose-lose situation.

In any case, Asians have an edge for gold since most of us have innies and we have Natasha Wang.

http://disgrasian.com/2011/05/why-chinese-mothers-are-superior-because-their-daughters-win-competitions-even-pole-dancing-competitions-thats-why/
hey_andrewlay

Woo, I never thought that navel could be discussed way like this. Since I have a peculiar navel to be confessed (and showed), this article is obviously catch my attention. The story start when I was born with outies navel and had to live with it for almost twenty years, my navel looks very much like a “press button”, round and embossed. I was so ashamed to let people see my navel, that’s why I avoid swimming pool. But then, something magical happens ! I have spent perhaps 2 years to get my self into gym and getting bulkier than before (I was very thin back then when I had that outies navel) and the navel I was born with was gradually sinking and voila, now it becomes innies. I didn’t have expectation that I will lose my outies as I’m getting bulkier, it’s an unexpected additional benefit for me whereas my goal is only looks abit brawny. My present navel >> hey_andrewlay
saulblum

I think that innies are much more common amongst everyone, not just Asians. Go to the beach and how many women in bikinis have an outie? I’ve never seen one.
fereidoon.tavassoli

Having an outie or innie has absolutely nothing to do with your race or you being an asian, I have seen many europeans with outies.

I’m not an asian and I have always had an outie till only recently, when I noticed my outie is turning into an innie, and I wanted to save it from turning into the shape of a stupid hole in my body, which is why I stumbled across this page Mam!

8 Asians