This is going to sound kind of weird, but in the past couple months my boyfriend has gotten really into rubbing my stomach.
Yes, my stomach.
I mean I could understand if he was sort of going for some other areas of my body, but my stomach?
Like…why?
This specific activity struck me as kind of sweet at first, but it’s gotten to the point of sticking in my head.
Why is he doing this and does it have some deeper psychological or sexual meaning?
I did some research and found some very interesting answers!
13 things it means when your boyfriend rubs your stomach
1) Your stomach literally turns him on
I work out.
That seriously sounds like bragging but I’m serious here and I’m kinda proud of how much I work out.
Squats, cardio, classes, jumping rope, cross cables, CrossFit, all of it…
That, combined with a pretty hardcore commitment to dieting has led to me having a tight stomach and quite a nice figure.
I would date me if I saw me walking down the street, to be honest.
This is why I kind of get it that my boyfriend likes to rub my stomach:
My stomach is f*cking sexy. Yeah, I said it.
But…He rubs it like…all the time. This is why I started getting paranoid and thinking there’s some deeper fetish angle to it and began digging around.
Still I want ladies out there to be confident that sometimes he’s rubbing your belly because he’s simply turned on by it.
Stomachs can be sexy and I see nothing wrong with a little bit of sexy stomach rubbing going on behind closed doors between consenting adults.
Good on you.
2) He’s trying to speak nonverbally
Men aren’t always the best talkers, my guy sure ain’t.
Among the possible things it means when your boyfriend rubs your stomach is that he’s trying to communicate nonverbally.
He’s in his feelings but he doesn’t know how to say it.
This is where the stomach rubbing comes in.
An affectionate and loving gesture yet without necessarily sexual overtones.
It could be sexual like my last point.
But it could be his way of saying he loves you, saying he’s sorry, saying he’s there for you, or many other things which I aim to get to further down here.
According to Now To Love relationship advice outlet, “science reveals that when you want to communicate something crucial to your partner, a five-second touch can get your message across faster than words ever could.”
Anybody touching my stomach got my attention for sure, I’m gonna tell you that straight up.
When it’s my main squeeze number one guy then I’m definitely paying extra attention to whatever he’s trying to say.
Now, if I could just figure out what…
3) He envisions children with you in the future
OK, so let’s get into it now…
Obviously your stomach is kind of near your uterus and your babymaking parts.
Growing up I actually thought babies came from a woman’s stomach. My mom encouraged the belief.
“Mommy how do babies come out of a woman’s tummy through her pee-pee?” I would ask.
I’ve grown up a bit since then and sex ed class in middle school helped clear it up some, but it turns out I was in the right ballpark even as a youngster.
So a man rubbing your stomach can definitely have a connection to a man wanting to pop out young’uns with you, yes…
It can have that connection, note, I don’t say it always does.
How do you know if it’s that or one of the other meanings on this list? It really comes down to paying attention to context and getting spiritual insight like I was saying in that last point…
Context, what’s that supposed to mean…
Well:
- Does your guy talk about wanting a family?
- Does he act like he’s over the moon around kids and meeting other couples with kids?
- Does he talk about his dad a lot and the concept of fatherhood?
- Is he pretty interested in asking your opinion about kids, birth control and the idea of a family?
Combine those kinds of signs with a lot of stomach rubbin’ and I think we can see that you all are headed straight down Babymaking Boulevard.
4) How is your overall relationship?
Let’s do a small diagnosis of where your relationship is at and how your love is going.
This can tell you a lot about why your guy is rubbing you up on the stomach area.
Are you doing good?
Do you communicate well?
When did you last fight or argue?
When did you last have sex? (You don’t have to tell me, just answer it yourself internally).
When did you last kiss (not always the same as when you last had sex, don’t I know it).
When did he last initiate a kiss with you? (also potentially different than the last question).
So the stomach rubbing can sometimes be his way of being affectionate in general and getting the juices flowing generally speaking.
He’s warming up your engine and cranking your motor if you want to put it that.
Sexually, yeah…
Emotionally, definitely…
5) What vibe do you feel when he touches your stomach?
Here’s where we dig down into your emotions and your reaction to this sensual stomach experience.
How do you feel when he touches you? (Apart from a little queasy if you just ate).
What vibe do you feel?
Like Relationships Sort Out puts it:
“The way he touches your sensitive mid-body is not something casual at all. You will feel his vibe and it will speak a lot about the meaning behind his touching your stomach.”
Is he kind of teasing? More sensual and slow circling his fingers around?
Is it sexual and caressing in a really seductive way or more friendly with an open palm?
Think about these details, mull them.
What’s the vibe behind his affection here and how do you feel it.
Remember that how you feel when he does it is just as important if not more than his purpose in doing it.
So don’t let him define everything that this is going to mean.
It also has a big amount to do with what you want it to mean.
6) He’s on his way down your treasure trail
The location of the stomach is located pretty close to the location of naughtier parts.
Sometimes your boyfriend rubs your stomach because he’s on his way down your treasure trail, which is to say he’s finding his way to more intimate regions.
Why not just go right for it?
I don’t know, that’s his deal…
I do know that guys like to warm up in this kind of way many times when they are making out and getting busy.
They put their hand down there and start getting intimate as a short little prelude to riskier business.
That could be all this is, it really could…
If so, that definitely simplifies things, doesn’t it. He’s just wanting sex.
No great mystery involved, the male mind explained in one easy step.
You’re welcome.
7) His primal male instincts are kicking in
So this is similar to the idea that he wants kids with you except it has an important difference.
The difference is that here where I’m talking about his primal male instincts, I’m not talking about his conscious mind.
I’m talking about his caveman brain, his instincts, his most subconscious, primal self.
My boyfriend doesn’t want kids in the near future. He’s made that crystal clear to me, far too clear if I’m being honest.
But his inner male instinct wants them.
You could tell yourself that I’m just saying this to get my own confidence up and tell myself what I want to hear.
Yet I know in my heart of hearts that my guy does want kids at some point and he’s admitted as much a time or two.
I try not to put too much pressure on him about that subject, I know it freaks guys out if it feels like their woman is totally trying to turn him into a daddy.
Yet the stomach rubbing has a dual purpose. It’s him being physically turned on by my flat stomach…
…While simultaneously subconsciously fantasizing about seeing it ripe and full with life.
Someday, I hope!
8) He’s testing the bounds of your trust
The stomach is an intimate and vulnerable place.
If you’ve ever been punched there then you know that for sure.
I never have, but I did once get a chair pushed into my stomach pretty hard at a party (by mistake) and it hurt like crazy.
Like crazy, crazy.
Letting someone touching you there in your stomach region takes trust.
It’s trust that they won’t push really hard, slap you or hurt you in any way.
It’s also trusting that they won’t tickle you, because speaking for myself I know that I am mega sensitive in the stomach area.
My boyfriend has tickled me a few times there and I just about died of the giggles.
It was fun for sure, but I also trust that he won’t do it everytime, especially when I just ate a lot.
The last thing I want to do is puke from laughing as he tickles my tummy.
9) It’s a way to make fun of your weight
This is a dick move, but practically every girl I know has had it happen to her at some point with some guy.
He rubs your tummy to make a sly comment on your weight.
OK, once or twice after a big dinner or something could be funny especially if he throws in a joke about being a bit tubby himself.
But if it turns into a fixation and he rubs your stomach in a kind of critical or “assessing” way, that is just…gross.
I know so many women who are insecure about weight and even a close friend who suffered from serious anorexia.
The absolute last f*ckin’ thing any of us need is a partner who’s judging and hating on us for weight gain or having a bit on the belly.
I’m fit in that regard like I said, but I know girls who aren’t, and if their boyfriend rubbed them down in the stomach as much as mine does I can definitely see them feeling uncomfortable.
10) It can be a sign of dominance or affection
The stomach being a vulnerable place signifies a lot of trust in letting any guy touch it and stroke it.
Him doing this can be his way of asserting a kind of dominance over you.
Is that a good thing? Depends a lot on what you’re into and the nature of your relationship with him, to be sure.
Thinking on this more deeply I have to say I surely wouldn’t have let any guy prior to my current boyfriend rub my stomach in the way he does.
I feel a deeper connection with him and don’t mind him rubbing me there.
With him it’s a matter of him being turned on by my flat stomach and also subconsciously wanting kids with me.
It’s also just a general sign of loving on me and being affection.
The dominance angle doesn’t really come into our relationship in this respect, personally speaking, but I can definitely understand this aspect in some relationships.
He’s kind of asserting his relation with you.
I can see that being pretty hot in the right context for sure.
11) It can be a way of saying sorry after a fight
When a couple fights everything gets all tensed up and awkward and shitty.
The phrase “knot in your stomach” comes to mind here. I’ve literally felt it many times after knocking heads with someone, especially a romantic partner.
You’re tensed up, wishing the drama could just be resolved and feeling all around sh*tty.
Stomach rubs can be his nonverbal way of saying sorry and trying to bridge the gap after a fight.
This is the method of saying that he feels love and affection for you and that he surely regrets any drama and unkind words that went down between the two of you.
Touching the stomach can be a kind of instinctive thing here too where his hands are almost working out the knot in your stomach, reassuring and comforting you.
It’s touching when you think about it that way, don’t you think?
12) It can mean he’s nervous
I like not to get overly technical with this kind of subject about the type of affection that goes on between couples.
There are times that it means he’s feeling kind of nervous and stroking you down to calm his jangly nerves.
The biggest sign that this is what’s going down is exactly what you’d think:
Check for sweating palms.
Are his hands clammy like cold spaghetti?
That’s a tell right there: this guy’s got the nerves and he’s rubbing your stomach to try to calm himself as much as to show affection or intimacy towards you.
Common examples could include when spooning and he reaches over and starts doing this but basically is feeling kind of shy or trying to get his nerve up to kiss you or go further.
13) It can mean nothing at all, really
I just want to keep it real with you all here extra good on this last point.
Sometimes rubbing your stomach means absolutely nothing.
It just means he wants to rub your stomach.
It’s in front of him or within his reach, so he rubs your stomach. Because he can. Because he feels like it.
There you have it. My point here is don’t overthink it! Sometimes a stomach rub is just a casual stomach rub…
Rubbing it in
These stomach rubs with my boyfriend are growing on me.
I feel more confident about what they mean and I’m also learning to just lie back and enjoy it.
We could all do to give our tummies more love. Tummies matter a lot and digest our food and make our life so much better.
I’m grateful for the stomach rubs I get from my guy, and lately I’ve started giving them back to him as well.
He gets this blissful smile like my old dog used to get when I’d give him a belly rub. I guess I must be doing something right.