The midriff crisis

When the weather gets hot, men roll up their sleeves. Women, on the other hand, are more revealing. And, more frequently than ever, it is a broad expanse of midriff on show.

Navels are everywhere. Tummies are being bared all over the place. Waistbands have been creeping downwards, and tattoos compete with navel rings for our attention. We live in the era of the naked midriff. And last week, the New York Times declared this a cultural phenomenon.

"It is," readers were told, "a look that has transcended fad, transcended fashion itself and now seems a deeply ingrained psycho-cultural impulse."

But what does it mean? Social anthropologists think the bared female belly is a sign of sexual availability - if your tummy is flat enough to flash, you're not pregnant and hence available.

According to research, men like midriffs to be flat, and to flare at the hips. The navel is sexy. It reminds us of primal scenes. Flaunting breasts, which might and might not be fake, seems very 20th century. But you can't fake a midriff.