Where did the tradition of wearing jewels in the belly button come from?
Wearing a jewel in the navel originated in Hollywood as a result of the Hays Code, a set of U.S. motion picture industry rules put into place in 1930 as a reaction to public outrage over a scandal. These rules were meant to maintain decent, moral standards on the silver screen. One provision stated “dancing or costumes intended to permit undue exposure or indecent movements in the dance are forbidden”. For film makers, it meant navels should not be visible on screen. Placing a jewel in the navel was the U.S. film industries way of getting around the strict rules so they could continue titillating audiences. Real dancers in the Middle East don’t put jewels in their navels.
