History Main / BareMidriffsAreFeminine

* ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'': Most of the female cast let their midriff show, more often than the men go shirtless. While it's justified for their {{Belly Dancer}} outfits and for their swimwear, they also tend to wear crop tops as their casual clothing, with the exception of the straight-laced Ridget.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': The two female members of the Bebop crew both wear midriff-baring tops. [[MsFanservice Faye]]'s is a knot-up shirt over a small halter top that also accentuates her breasts; [[{{Hackette}} Ed]]'s is a loose-fitting tank top. By contrast, the two male crew members Spike and Jet both wear full shirts.

* ''Anime/DinosaurKing'': Zoe, the only girl member of the main trio, wears a midriff-baring shirt, although a few episodes set in colder climates show that her shirt is full-length, she just rolls up the bottom to show her midriff. Ursula, the only female of the Alpha Gang trio, has a NavelWindow instead.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' has Team Aqua, where the female grunts and admin Shelly expose their midriff and navel, while the male grunts wear a regular top. Matt, the male admin for Team Aqua, has a WalkingShirtlessScene instead.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': When played as Serena, the character is given summer outfits for character customization. Many of these outfits are crop-tops (though the default outfit is not). Calem on the other hand is given winter outfits which are full shirts.

* ''Franchise/SlyCooper'':
** Carmelita Fox primarily shows her midriff in her police uniform, and occasionally in other attire.
** In ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'', Neyla also is shown to expose her midriff in both of her outfits.
** In ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', the Siamese Cat guards have outfits which showcase their midriffs.

** Much like Kristal before her, Emily from ''All-Stars'' bears her midriff. It also suggests she's aware of her beauty and is meant to add to her other typically feminine traits, such as her long hair or wearing heavy make-up.

* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley's outfits in the original DS and Wii games have her wear a T-shirt as a 13-year-old in ''Two Memories'' and a tank top as a 16-year-old in ''R: Journey into Lost Memories'', both of which expose a sliver of her stomach. This is averted in the ''Recollection'' remakes, where she wears a hoodie and a flannel shirt with top, respectively.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': The characters Loona and Millie have exposed midriffs part of their main outfits.
** In the episode "Queen Bee", Beelzebub is seen to expose hers as well.

* ''Franchise/SlyCooper''

** In ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime', the Siamese Cat guards have outfits which showcase their midriff.

* "WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss': The characters Loona and Millie have exposed midriffs part of their main outfits.

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'': The titular Shantae is a frequent source of midriff- and navel-focus as a BellyDancer, but pretty much every single other major female character is young, cute, and shows off a [[ImpossibleHourglassFigure slender stomach]]. For that matter, virtually every non-child female character -- including villagers and some {{Mooks}} -- bares her belly or [[NavelWindow shows just enough to reveal the belly button]], suggesting midriff-baring is customary in Sequin Land. In the (very rare) case a female character's abdomen is fully covered, she'll sport a NavelOutline, solidifying the trope of female belly button fanservice as something of a series hallmark. By contrast, male characters like Bolo, Uncle Mimic and the various Barons tend to full shirts, although on some males it's open in the front.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': Being a [[{{Fembot}} girly robot]], Jenny's design is meant to give this impression, with blue plates at her chest and waist mimicking a crop top and a miniskirt. A screw in the center mimics a belly button. This is combined with other TertiarySexualCharacteristics, such as GirlishPigtails. Despite this, in an episode when she's [[HumanityEnsues turned humans]], she switches to a midriff-covering minidress.

** Many of [[Characters/EmmaFrostWhiteQueen Emma Frost's]] outfits expose her midsection, and she's confident in her looks, seductive and very much feminine, which contrasts greatly with other X-Men girls who wear more modest uniforms.

** [[Characters/X23LauraKinney Laura Kinney's]] most iconic early outfit was cropped to show her flat stomach, which contrasts with Logan's full-covering costume. After taking the Wolverine moniker she began wearing a full-body covering version of Logan's own.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Sonya Blade had a few midriff-baring outfits in the series.

* In the ''Franchise/TombRaider'': Lara Croft wore midriff baring outfits a lot before the 2013 reboot.

* ''[[Creator/TimDorsey Serge A. Storms]]'': Stripper and amateur porn star Rachael from ''Atomic Lobster'' is more sensual than Serge's usual HotLibrarian GirlOfTheWeek and her wardrobe includes a lot of clothes tops that show off her stomach, including baby tee shirt, a skimpy halter top, and a sports bra.

* ''Anime/InterspeciesReviewers'': While most of the townswomen wear normal outfits, the "[[TheOldestProfession working girls]]" of various brothels almost always bare their midriffs. From the will-o'-wisps that never wear a stitch, to the nekomimi in the cathouse, these pleasure girls often show off their toned tummies; otherwise, their outfits rise only to nipple height and no further. Contrasted by barmaid Meidri, whose uniform covers her collarbones to her knees, and everything in between: she serves only food and drinks, no cloaca.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Nami frequently wears midriff-baring outfits, which add to her femininity alongside her [[WaterIsWomanly water motifs]], [[LongHairIsFeminine long hair]] post-timeskip, and love for children, shopping, and fashion.

%% ZCE: * Most, if not all female characters from [[VideoGame/PopnMusic pop'n music]] shows their midriffs whatever or not with a navel ring.

*** Flannery, the Gym Leader of Lavaridge Town, wears a cropped t-shirt in Ruby and Sapphire, and a cropped tank top and vest combo in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldandSoulSilver'': Karen is the only female among the Elite Four and her outfit is a belly-shirt. As part of her FanservicePack, Sabrina the Gym Leader of Saffron City now wears a tank-top short enough to show her navel.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheCloneWars'': Despite being a monastic order, Jedi women are fairly commonly seen in two-piece outfits while the men all wear robes. Examples include Aayla Secura, Ahsoka Tano (who transitions into more modest outfits over the seasons), and Shaak Ti (who typically wears robes but wears a much more revealing outfit in ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''.) Additionally, Suu Lawquane, married to AWOL clone Cut Lawquane, wore midriff-exposing chaps but in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheBadBatch'' now wears a more modest jumpsuit.

* ''Film/SuicideSquad'': Both female members of the eponymous squad, Harley Quinn and Katana, wear midriff-baring clothes, whereas none of the male members do.

* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': Matako Kijima is the only woman in the Kiheitai. While the men either have their torsos fully covered or wear a slightly open kimono, Matako wears a [[PinkIsFeminine pink]] outfit which leaves her midriff bare.

* ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'': Elizabeth is a feminine princess and Meliodas hires her as a waitress at his bar, making her wear a midriff-baring attire for the job.

* ''ComicBook/StargirlDCComics'': The Star Spangled Kid outfit Courtney Whitmore found was a full-body suit; the same as all Starman incarnations. One of the ways the rather feminine Courtney modified it for herself was to make the top bare her midriff, something that is consistent in all continuities she appears in. She often wears crop-tops in her civilian life too. She once justified it to S.T.R.I.P.E. by noting that it sometimes distracted male opponents, and on at least one occasion, encouraged Supergirl to bare her midriff for the same reason.

Until the mid-20th century, bare midriffs were mostly seen as obscene in Western culture. The sexual revolution of TheSixties led to partial nudity being more and more acceptable. However, [[NippleAndDimed female nipples are still seen as unacceptable]], leading to outfits that cover a woman's chest but leave the midriff bare, such as belly shirts (a.k.a. crop tops), sports bras, and bikinis, becoming popular especially in the younger generation. This, in turn, led to bare midriffs in media being a [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics visual shorthand]] for "teenage girl" or, in some cases, just "girl", or otherwise indicating a character's femininity.

* ''ComicBook/StargirlDCComics'': The Star Spangled Kid outfit Courtney Whitmore found was a full-body suit; the same as all Starman incarnations. One of the ways the rather feminine Courtney modified it for herself was to make the top bare her midriff, something that is consistent in all continuities she appears in. She often wears crop-tops in her civilian life too. She once justified it to S.T.R.I.P.E. by noting that it sometimes distracted male opponents, and on at least one occasion, encouraged supergirl to bare her midriff for the same reason.

* Kagamine Rin from Music/{{Vocaloid}} bare her midriff as a contrast from her [[AmbiguouslyRelated male counterpart]] Len. This extends to whenever they wear a matching outfit, though for her Append design they use larger NavelWindow than him instead.

** Claire's cowgirl outfit in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2''. As well as Moira's ninja outfit.