Below the chest and above the hips, the front of the torso is the softest plane of the body and the first to be exposed when clothing comes off. The presence or absence of a waist curve, a rounded softness, taut abdominal muscles, or the swell of a pregnant belly: a single region that summons a separate preference for each of its states. That is the abdomen as erotic representation.

Abdomen (Japanese: 腹部, fukubu) is the anatomical name for the front-of-torso region from the lower margin of the thorax to the upper margin of the pelvis. This article covers its role in erotic representation, the differentiation of preference by state (soft belly, abs, pregnancy belly), and the standard conventions of depiction in AV and erotic manga.

Anatomy

The abdomen runs from the lower thorax (the costal margin) to the upper rim of the pelvis. Beneath the skin lie the abdominal wall muscles (rectus abdominis, obliques), and within them the peritoneum and the viscera (stomach, intestines, uterus, bladder). At the centre sits the navel, the visual focal point of the structure. Depending on muscle development and subcutaneous fat, surface form varies greatly: a taut six-pack, a flat abdomen, a softly rounded belly, the distended belly of pregnancy.

Role in erotic representation

The abdomen enters erotic representation as the visual bridge connecting the chest and the hip region, as an independent focal point centred on the navel, as the “entrance from the everyday into the sexual” revealed when clothing is lifted or lowered, and as an evaluation point for the waist curve. In erotic manga and AV, lifting clothing to expose the abdomen is frequently used as a sign that “something is about to happen.” More than an independent sexual focus, the exposure of the abdomen functions as an introductory signal for the sexual scene.

Differentiation of preference by state

Preference around the abdomen is subdivided by state. Taut abs (abs fetish, slender preference) connect with characters who have athletic backgrounds and with youthful, physical female figures. A soft, gentle belly (within the chubby line) is favoured as a symbol of softness, embrace, and a healthy figure. The pregnancy belly forms a distinct, strong fetish as a bodily mark of pregnancy resulting from a sexual scene. These may seem like opposite preferences, but each rereads a particular state of the abdomen into sexual meaning, and the common thread is that the abdominal state functions as a sign of the story’s stage and the character’s attributes.

Depiction in AV and erotic manga

In AV, the conventions include stroking the abdomen during foreplay, depicting belly swelling or fullness after creampie, and the swollen belly in pregnancy-themed and impregnation-themed work. In erotic manga, where freedom of depiction is greater, distinct conventions have developed: the hara-bote device of drawing the volume of semen inside the uterus as a swelling of the belly, and the hara-deko device of expressing depth of penetration as a bulge of the abdomen. These are physiologically near-impossible, but are widely received as visual signs.

Related terms

• Breasts
• Waist curve
• Pregnancy belly
• Chubby
• Pregnancy