Casual Conversation

Handedness is quite obviously not as significant as gender, race, or sexuality. But it is at least similar in kind, in the sense that we live in a world that is built to benefit right handers. From things as minor as needing to rearrange cutlery at every restaurant or a lack of understanding about how to teach handwriting to lefties when the script is designed for righties, to more significant things like lefties dying on average 9 years younger than righties.

It was being left-handed that first helped me really internalise (as opposed to merely having an intellectual understanding of) the importance of representation in media. I've never played a Zelda game. I've never really even owned a Nintendo console, except for a Wii which only got used for Wii Sports. But I heard that Link was originally a lefty, and that they switched him to right-handed in the Wii version. And it hurt, man. A game I've never given a shit about, but learning they got rid of one of the only prominent lefties in games hurt, and I realised on a deep level "oh, this is why representation matters".

And it looks like they kept Link right-handed even in later post-Wii games.

25% of the US astronauts were lefthanded.

In 1st-3rd grade I would get reprimanded if I wrote with my left hand, but my right handed writing was unreadable so they thought I had a learning disability. They tried to put me in special needs classes which I excelled at because I didn't have a learning disability. I got pulled out of that and then got tested for AD(H)D which I didn't have.

Yet more evidence that Lemmy is overrun by extreme leftists...

(/j)

My grandmother was beaten in school for using her left hand. Then they tied her hand behind her to force her to write with her right hand. Being left-handed was the sign of the Devil in those days.

As a lefty myself, I’m glad they don’t do that anymore! Now they just leave us alone with our terrible smeared handwriting.

When will the ambidextrous have their day?

I have a few left-handed friends, and it always surprised me how hard it can be to find a mouse or scissors suited for them

Being left-handed is fun because we were the only people who got to play Super Mario 64 DS with reasonable controls back in the early aughts.

Most lefties are at least somewhat cross-dominant and/or ambidextrous. Unclear whether that's biologically or societally caused.

For me, I use a mouse and scissors right-handed. I also bat right handed (whether in cricket or baseball). Same with golf.

Fun fact: the creator of Counter Strike, Minh Le, is left handed. The original view models were modelled left handed, and a setting in the game mirrors the view models to be right handed albeit making them technically incorrect. It's thanks to him being a leftie that CS as a AAA franchise has settings to customize the player character's handedness.

And if you are a lefty, or have a child or partner or friend who is a lefty check out [email protected]

I'm right handed, but eat left handed.

As a right handed person who follows the left handed path, I appreciate my lefty cousins!

I was born left-handed in the 1970s, and forced to become right handed because for some reason my parents and teachers did not approve.

And righthanded people get the other 364 days, just like god intended

My dad wrote and played guitar right-handed, but batted, caught, threw, and played golf left-handed, because his sister taught him sports.

I wish I could tell you but here they hate nsfw stuff so...