My aunt Evelyn was also left handed, was forced to be right handed as a child, which no doubt contributed to her life-long ill-health. (Well, along with the scarlet fever.) Born in 1919 to a poor Irish family, steeped in Canadian Catholicism, but strong minded, she was hit and bullied. By nuns, what a terrible idea. This concept confused me as a child, what was the point? Of nuns, or the superstition against left handedness, take your pick. Well, no, as a kid, I didn't suspect nuns, I just thought them a bit wet.
When aunt Evelyn had a stroke, she recovered herself completely, which is more likely in left handers.
My mother could only button up clothes with her left hand, despite being otherwise right handed.
I once wrote a paper on left handedness in school. Probably high school, grade 8 or 9 I think. Knowing I had some lefty traits, even being completely right handed. My left hand is my strength hand, and that is the thumb with the CMC issues.
Seems such a weird trait to attribute evil to. But then, I'm so used to shaking hands with whatever hand my patient has available, which is left about a quarter* of the time. Met my neighbor out with a friend yesterday. I had to offer my left hand, and apologize because I'd been picking up cigarette butts, and had them in my right hand. Friends who wound up adopting a kid (left in bad circumstances by their family) missing a right arm and forearm, when they visited, I shook his left hand. Took me a moment, but I think I recovered and switched sides pretty quickly. We in the medical field are pretty good at adjusting to catastrophic injury and deformity with only brief lag times.
Variations are useful, and interesting. Handedness one of many. Like sexuality and gender, we are not binary nor perfectly encapsulated. The edges illuminate, as the massive center cannot.
*Half upper arm surgeries, half of that being a quarter.
9 comments:
While living in Japan, I asked why everybody seemed to be right-handed. Turns out kids who are left-handers are taught to write with the right hand because "if a child writes with the left hand, they will smear the ink." I wonder if calligraphy with a brush is still taught in Japanese schools today.
One of our nurses at work has trouble with the whiteboard because she's left handed, keeps erasing as she goes.
Surgeons are much more often left handed than the general public. And they are taught to be ambidextrous, which makes sense. Left handers tend to take to using both hands more naturally.
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I used to do mirror writing...both hands at once ...until junior school...then I was forced to use my right hand for everything.
I throw my pots left handed....
gz,
But... but, but! That's a wonderful talent! What was wrong with them to erase that from you? Makes no sense at all.
You know, all your pots are backward, right? (joke)
I write with my right hand and throw with my left hand. My brother (who you don't tend to 'hear' me speak of often) writes with his left hand and throws with his right. For completeness, I have an older brother and a younger sister.
My parent's generation were 'taught' to write with the right hand, regardless of natural tendencies but I was fortunate to not have to face such ridiculousness.
Phil,
I don't have a lot of strength with my left-handed throw, but I have much better accuracy. Glad they stopped that foolishness by the time you came through. I don't remember being pushed either way, nor any kid around me, but I might have missed it.
Yes, 'sinister'.
I sometimes wonder if there are more left hand writers in language cultures where the writing goes from right to left.
Lucy,
Or up and down...
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