We are the most discriminated against people in the history of the world. Since the beginning of time it's been going on. There are no laws against keeping us down, no activist groups, no lobbying for rights - most people don't even know the discrimination is going on even though they see it every day.From the moment I picked up my Crayola crayon with the "wrong" hand I joined the 11 percent of people that the rest of the world oppresses on a daily basis. It's done subtly, ingrained into your subconscious; even a southpaw doesn't realize when the man is trying to keep him down.
Over the years my teachers, family, instructors and other random people have tried and failed to make me right-handed. I refuse to conform, and quite honestly I think of the world as left-handed, with the righties as the strange ones. I know I'm wrong, but that's just my own misinformed reality. I will admit that from all the years of everyone trying to shove the status quo down my throat I have learned to do a lot of things with my right hand. I guess you could call me ambidextrous, right? Wrong.
Ambidextrous comes from the Latin ambi meaning both, and dexter meaning right. Most literally to be ambidextrous is to have two right hands, which I don't. Statistics show that the majority of left-handed people can do many tasks with both hands. Calling them ambidextrous would be a lie because their dominate hand is their left. You would have to call them ambisinstralous, meaning two left hands. It just goes to show how words can discriminate.
But wait... doesn't the Latin word for left look awfully familiar? Sinstral evolved into our current day term sinister - so if you're left-handed you're automatically evil. Thanks society, you're awesome. But it doesn't stop there. Remember the SAT word gauche? It means awkward, out of place, crude. Well it derives from the French word of the same. In French however, it means left. So if you're left-handed you're gauche, socially awkward, crude - the list goes on.Despite all the negativity and oppression there have been many very influential southpaws throughout history. Some of the most brilliant minds that shaped the world were left-handed. Before I give you the list I'm gonna end on a positive note.
Science has shown that your dominate hand is controlled by the opposite side of your brain. Meaning that the average right-handed person uses the left side of their brain, which would mean a left-handed person uses the right side of the brain.
Take into consideration the following phrase: "Not in their right mind." It means that someone is crazy, a fool, an imbicile, stupid etc. Take that right-handed world! That common phrase dictates that someone not in their right mind is of substandard intellect, meaning that the right-handed world is not as smart as the left. I rest my case.
Famous Lefties
Famous Historical FiguresLeonardo DaVinci - His perfect writing backwards is a testament to early southpaw rebellion
Benjamin Franklin - Probably the DaVinci of his age
Queen Victoria
Joan of Arc - The British thought she was pretty sinister
Charlemagne - Established what would become Germany, France and the Holy Roman Empire
Alexander the Great - Conquered most of the world
Napoleon Bonaparte - Conquered most of the world... again
Julius Caesar - Veni Vedi Vici (He conquered too)
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Jack the Ripper - Forensic evidence from this infamous killer suggests that the ripper was left-handed
The Boston Strangler
World LeadersFidel Castro
Ronald Regan
George H.W. Bush
Gerald Ford
Bill Clinton
Harry S. Truman
Herbert Hoover
Celebrities
Dan Aykroyd
Charlie Chaplin
Matthew Broderick - Married to fellow lefty Sarah Jessica Parker
Carol Burnett
Robert DeNiro
Tom Cruise
Sid Caesar
Peter Fonda
Richard Dreyfuss
Goldie Hawn
Cary Grant
Ned Flanders
Rex Harrison
Mark Hamill
Angelina Jolie
Rock Hudson
Kermit the Frog
Bart Simpson
Nicole Kidman
Diane Keaton
Marilyn Monroe
Sarah Jessica Parker - Married to fellow lefty Matthew Broderick
Robert Redford
Richard Simmons
Rip Torn
Joe Piscopo
Jerry Seinfeld
Dick Van Dyke
Bruce Willis
Oprah
Ted Koppel
Dave Barry
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
David Letterman
Jay Leno
Uri Geller
Julia Roberts - There's a funny bit in Ocean's 12 about it
Musicians
Jimi Hendrix
Paul McCartney
Kurt Cobain
Natale Cole
Dick Dale
Bela Fleck
Judy Garland
Isaac Hayes
Robert Plant
Cole Porter
Seal
Johnny Rotten
Paul Simon
Tiny Tim
Artists and Writers
Michelangelo
Albrecht Durer
Raphael
M.C. Escher
Lewis Carroll
Mark Twain
H.G. Wells
Suspected Lefties
Ringo Starr
Martina McBride
Joe Perry
Albert Einstein - A debate for years, no one knows if he was left, right or both handed.
There are more out there I'm sure. But for a minority group we certainly do have some big names. Keep a look out next time you watch TV there are more of us than you think. I still get excited when I see a lefty on screen.
Correction:
Thanks to Kate Gladstone for the information. The University of Indiana database I got the list of lefties from incorrectly listed Mark Twain as one of us. After some research I found this photo that, unless it was taken in a mirror, shows Mark Twain writing with his right hand.
