Being that August 13th is International Lefthanders Day, I found myself doing a little online research about my lefty tribe. There are some very interesting facts floating around in cyberspace. Here’s a fun little summary:
http://leftyfretz.com/left-handed-facts-infographic/
By the way and in case you were wondering, none of the current U.S. presidential candidates is a Southpaw. Bummer. And just for the record, I can roll my tongue just fine, thank you very much.
What’s interesting, yet a bit disturbing, is the fear of, and distain for, lefties that has persisted throughout the ages. The sad truth is that by most estimates, up through the 1700s, 40,000 or more people were executed under suspicion of practicing witchcraft; based primarily upon their religious beliefs, independent or rebellious behaviors, and some interesting physical characteristics, including left-handedness.
And check this out: in the English language, the term left is derived from the Anglo-Saxon lyft meaning to be weak or broken. However, this disdain is not limited to English. The German for “left-handed” is linkisch, which means awkward, clumsy, and maladroit. In Italian mancino is derived from crooked or maimed. In Russian, to be called a lefthander (levja) is a flat-out insult.
It’s a wonder that left-handedness hasn’t been wiped out – after all only 10% of the population is left-handed. However, scholars note it appears we’ve held steady at this percentage for about 30,000 years (Coren, Stanley. 1992. The Left-Hander Syndrome: The Causes and Consequences of Left-Handedness. Detroit, MI: Free Press). Despite the persecution, the fear (left-handedness having once been considered the mark of the devil), and a propensity to be accident prone, we’ve survived. There are a few theories as to why this is true:
It’s genetic. One premise is that the gene LRRTM1 is a strong contributing factor for left-handedness. Scientists discovered the gene during a study of dyslexic children; it is believed to be inherited from the father. At the most, this seems to account for 25% of all lefties. In my family, the only other leftie I’ve ever been able to identify is my Uncle Tommy, on my mama’s side; so go figure.
It’s the environment. There might be conditions during pregnancy that contribute to developing into a lefthander. Here’s my favorite: lefthanders were originally in the womb with a twin that did not survive, or a “Vanishing Twin.” Two of me? I doubt my mother would have survived two teenage Kimbas.
It’s a choice. For whatever reason, some infants may just chose to be lefties. Are we more rebellious? Are we stubborn? Do we choose to be left-handed because we are more creative? I find this one particularly funny because I can tell you: I was born a leftie. I’ve never been able to do anything right-handed. For me it would be like trying to choose my eye color, my height, or my shoe size.
The fear of left-handedness or things on the left side even has its own specific phobia: sinistrophobia. I ask you, in this day and age, how silly is this? I mean, is there anything out there more ridiculous than a fear of lefties?
Hmmm. Cough, cough…
If I’m being honest up here in the middle-aged cheap seats – and we are, if nothing else, truthful up here – I’ll share that I happen to suffer from a phobia that has haunted me since my youth. I’m afflicted by sanguivoriphobia. You don’t know what this is? Well, it’s the fear of vampires. Yep, ever since my childhood sidekick Jojo convinced me that our neighbor across the street, Mr. Anderson, was a vampire, I’ve been traumatized by the creatures of the night. How afraid you might ask? No Twilight, I veto many of the Anne Rice novels, and here’s the kicker: the only George Clooney movie I’ve never seen is Dusk Til Dawn. A phobia that can keep me away from George; THAT my friends, is some powerful mojo.
Therefore, before I get all high and mighty about the absurdity of sinistrophobia, I’ll check my hypocrite card at the door and offer this: if you fear me for my left-leaning proclivities, and I have many (*wink*), come on by and sit for a spell. I won’t bite, I’ll leave that to the vampires.
Do you suffer from a phobia? Share your secrets in the comments section; we’re all friends here.
Cheers,
Kimba
I am a claustrophobic lefty. It has travelled from my grandfather to my mother (1 of 4) to me (1 of 3 – the other two are male) to my 2nd daughter (1 of 4 girls). So it is passing down through the females in my family. The thing I have most difficulty with – persisting even though I am now in my 50s – is turning screws and taps etc. Something just hasn’t clicked for which way to do this. I thought it was because the world was predominantly created by right handed engineers but apparently there is an expression (tighty righty, loosy lefty) – so the right handers must have difficulties too sometimes… I trained as a (left brained) pharmacist but eventually had to leave and pursue more creative (right brained) stuff! Whilst serving in the Australian military I noticed about a third of my patients seemed to be lefties (I didn’t ever count) – either they get sicker than righties or there is a higher percentage attracted to that way of life. A study would be interesting… Even though I am a proud lefty I am pretty capable with my right hand too – and can’t cope with left handed scissors but I like left handed fountain pens!
Vivienne you are one interesting lefty! The whole lefty scissors debate can cause outright throw-down arguments! 🙂
This was so informative! My sister is a lefty and I have no problem with it although, she struggled because when we were kids they didn’t make things for lefties like I believe they do now. I believe my husband most definitely suffers from this phobia. My oldest daughter I think should have been a lefty, but my husband would hear nothing of it and tried with all his might to get her to switch. She is ambidextrous now. She writes with her left hand but eats and hits a baseball and other things like that with her left hand.
My ex-husband writes left-handed but plays sports right-handed, just like your daughter. I do think that these days teachers and parents both are good with allowing us lefties to stay lefties.
I am not a left, but I learned to be one for a couple of months hen I fractured the humerus of my right arm- was a challenge. I also once did an exercise where I drew one day with my right and the next day with my left- braim shift- thanks for the joy you bring xx
Suzie, that switching from one side to the other to see how it affects your creativity is SO interesting. I might try that!
A hubby and son, both lefthanders but until my son was born, my hubby didn’t really remember ” being switched ” by a teacher and cooperative parents. Left hand tied to the desk anyone. I did find out that being left handed is more difficult and it was ( and is ) more difficult to teach a left hander when you think right handed. Takes some twisting and I wasn’t good at it.
Love the phobia story.. Thanks.
I remember my grandmother – a rightie – trying to teach me how to knit. It didn’t go well. 🙂
I am a proud leftie, both physically and politically, but that’s a story for another day. You mention two things in this article that I found rather interesting.
First, you say that science has taught us that left-handedness could be genetic, passed through the father. In thinking of my own family, I am the only lefty on Dad’s side. In my mother’s family, though, I am not so unique. Of my six cousins, four of us are lefties. Both of my mother’s brothers and her sister are lefties, and Mom is ambidextrous. (The older of my two uncles actually believes left-handedness to be a mark of something demonic, so he forced himself to write with his right hand as a teenager. He, however, is an insane motherfucker and should never have been allowed to reproduce. Again, though, this is a story for another day… in my therapist’s office.)
Second, you mention that left-handedness could be environmental and that your favorite of the theories is that lefties are a part of a twin set that includes a vanishing twin. I thought it was interesting because I was one-half of a set of twins. My twin, though, didn’t develop beyond the very early stages of physical development. When my mom went into labor, it was actually my fraternal twin’s sac that broke, and not mine. You joke about your mom having to handle two of you as teenagers, and I feel the same way. Mom would have gone gray a LOT earlier had there been two fabulous gay dudes born in the wee hours of an otherwise random Wednesday in March of 1979!
I definitely question the genetic link through the Dad’s side because I can’t find any lefties from my Dad’s family. And you, my friend, sound like someone to get into some wonderful trouble with on any random Wednesday.
Must admit most of those factoids about lefties are completely new to me! My younger sister is left-handed, and frankly, we have never liked each other much, but I seriously doubt that her being left handed has anything to do with that. Phobia wise, I do have one and it’s a doozie, gephyrophobia. That’s the fear of going over bridges, and that extends to freeway overpasses, and I will literally go miles (and miles) out of my way to avoid either. I’ve been able to mostly ignore this phobia since living in Hawaii, but now that I’ve moved back to the mainland it’s sure to periodically rear its ugly head.
Oh, my husband has that same phobia! And, growing up in Florida, you go over bridges A LOT. We always rolled down the windows going over any bridge – the rationale being that if something went wrong and you ended up with the car in the water you needed to be able to get out – and power windows might not work. Is this phobic, or just good planning?
Happy International Lefthanders Day, Kim. My younger sister is left handed and I often suspect that I was born one too except the teacher in school forced me to write with my right hand which made my Dad ensure no right handed force would be used with my sister by telling her teachers upfront that the daughter was lefthanded. Like Beverley’s daughter I can use both hands although my left hand is the stronger one.
I think those teachers had a phobia. 🙂 For me, spiritually speaking, the left hand is for receiving and I gladly extend it to receive love from the Divine.
I love that sentiment – “the left hand is for receiving.”
You made me think of all the left handed people I know. And, I don’t believe that I ever shook hands with any of them. Never thought how awkward that could be for them. As for phobias – snakes, reptiles, and anything that makes sounds in the dark.
Oh yeah, I’m not a fan of those things that slither.
You made me think of all the left handed people I know. And, I don’t believe that I ever shook hands with any of them. Never thought how awkward that could be for them. As for phobias – snakes, reptiles, and anything that makes sounds in the dark.
When my daughter was young, she would switch back and forth, from her right hand to her left hand. She could throw a baseball with either. She would do puzzles switching back and forth too. Ultimately, she did turn out to be right-handed, however, it was fascinating to watch the process evolve in her. As far as my own phobias…all things horror. Maybe it’s a vivid imagination or something like that. I’m always curious about the phobias people have and the extreme reaction that has in their lives. Thanks for sharing so much about the left-handed population. Crazy that there is still a stigma attached to being left-handed, as many of the world’s great creatives have indeed been left-handed.
I will be sharing this with all the “lefties” in my life.
I’m left-handed, and I’m weird. So, we have that covered. The biggest issues: writing with a pen because my hand drags in the ink, car controls on the right, toilet paper on the right, and I have a great excuse for not being able to golf.
Then there’s the taboo against shaking hands or touching hands lefty because the left hand is the one you use to wipe with after using the toilet in some cultures. And if you take that word derivation a bit further: you’ll find that “sinister” derives from “lefthanded.”
Me, I’m rodent-phobic and many-kinds-of-insects–phobic. Don’t know the words for those!
I shall celebrate International Lefthanders Day, thanks to this post! Interestingly enough, my husband and I are right-handed but 2/3 of our kids are lefties !!
I’m not a lefty, but I married into my last name, Linker, derived, as you say, German for “left-handed” (linkisch), so I guess I am an honorary member of the tribe!