Post #3: Why Living Left-Handed Today Is So Hard

Hello and welcome to A Teenager Tries to Understand, my blog about navigating the world as a teenage girl. In my third post, I wanted to talk about the struggle of being left-handed in a predominantly right-oriented world, since lately I've been having some thoughts about it.

With approximately 90% of the world’s population being right-handed, it’s a unique experience for left-handed people (lefties) like me just to live their daily lives. Common everyday tasks like writing in a spiral notebook, using scissors, or even eating at the dinner table are significantly more complicated for lefties than they are for the majority of people. But these superficial annoyances aren’t even half of what favoring one hand over the other means in our world.

The separation stems from the Middle Ages, when left-handed people were burned at the stake because of the popular misconception that they practiced witchcraft. In Christian belief during those times, Jesus sat at the right side of God, while Lucifer (the devil) was often associated with the left, so people learned to view lefties as evil and corrupt. 

Thankfully, no one discriminates to that extent anymore, but there are still many biases against lefties embedded in today’s society. Take everyday English: the sayings “two left feet” and “fighting left-handed” both have negative connotations, whereas “right-hand man” refers to someone in a position of power or trust. You can even find these subtle prejudices in other languages: the English word “sinister” is the Latin word for “left,” which also means “unlucky.” In French, “gauche,” while commonly defined as “left,” can also mean “awkward” or “clumsy.” It’s not just a coincidence - it’s unfair stereotyping.

Not to mention, the things right-handed people don’t think twice about are issues that their left-handed peers face every day. Pens, can openers, scissors, and doorknobs are all designed to be used with the right hand, so lefties constantly have to wash ink off their hands, or wrestle with an uncooperative can of pumpkin purée. And although special products like left-handed scissors exist, they are considerably more expensive and/or harder to find than their typical counterparts. 

In addition to these struggles, there is also the challenge of eating next to a right-handed person at a table. You will inevitably bump elbows at some point - and since lefties are a minority, we will take the blame. It is really quite interesting how the world revolves around right-handedness.

Even with all of the difficulties that come with being left-handed, I can’t complain. After all, we’re just humans, trying to live our lives to the fullest extent. However, I do believe that this is an issue that needs to be more thoroughly addressed, and I think we can make significant change happen if we work for it.

Please leave feedback on this post in the comment section below, and follow my Pinterest account at @ATeenageBlog. See you at Post #4!