Calling all lefites. Being left handed doesn't make us special.

Admittedly, there have been moments when I have appreciated being left handed simply because most people are not. But really, does being left handed make me any more special than anyone else? I think not.

Just recently I found a website that celebrates Left Handers Day. The day is celebrated internationally on August 13th. I personally do not feel a need to celebrate this day. Nor do I feel oppressed in some way or feel that I am more special or gifted than a right handed person.

Supposedly, left handed people are more creative than others. I do not consider myself to be incredibly artistic or creative. I write poetry and I dance but I cannot draw or paint or create music for the life of me. I do not find that I am more right brained and every lame man online test I've taken has told me that I am equally right and left brained (although, I do understand that there are varying degrees of left handedness).

During my junior and senior years of college however, I attended a liberal arts college called The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. I discovered that sooo many of the students were left handed. At that time I began to think about many artists who are left handed as well.



Kurt Cobain was left handed (Nirvana also played at the Evergreen State College from time to time)



I think many of us know that Paul McCartney is left handed..



Joan of Arc was left handed..



Oprah is left handed..



Our wonderful new president, Barack Obama is left handed..

But folks seeking out the ones we admire that just happen to be left handed shouldn't validate us. Not only that, not all left handed individuals are all that grand.



For instance...George W. Bush is also left handed.
Sorry to deflate all of you but it's true.



Earlier I mentioned that I do not feel oppressed as a left handed person. I understand that I am fortunate as there are many who have been shamed or forced to write with their right hand. I remember during graduate school I once saw a Japanese exchange student write with his right hand and later with his left. I asked him if he was ambidextrous. He said that in his country, his parents shamed him for being left handed and he was forced to learn to write with his right. I feel fortunate that I never experienced the same.

I did some research about left handers and ran into an article from ABC news online. According to the article, research has shown that left handed people are more likely to have schizophrenia, experience alcoholism, dyslexia, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Apparently we are a also more likely to die young and get into accidents. According to Lefthandedinfo.com the reason behind a person being born left or right handed is unknown. Perhaps time will tell. I imagine we'll learn more and more about the oddity that is the south paw.