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Jimina Smith
May 2, 2014
English 1102
Researched Argument (Revised)
I Have To Hand It to You
Todd Dunham defines handedness as an attribute of humans defined by their unequal
distribution of fine motor skill between the left and right hands (Preface). Handedness could
simply be defined as the tendency to use one hand rather than the other. And being left handed in
past decades has been seen as being troublesome, a symbol of evil, or even a bad habit. Most
people have become more progressively aware of the fact there are people that do not and cannot
write with their right hands. Scientist and researchers alike have attempted to pinpoint the causes
of the left-handed preference to help others understand but have yet to reach a definite
conclusion. But one thing the community and experts will agree on is that hand dominance,
whether left or right, is [directly] related to brain symmetry (Klass). Regardless of these causes,
society still has not taken the proper steps to make the lefty community feel comfortable living
in a right-handed world.
According to Scientific American, about 70%- 95% of people are right handed, around
5%- 30% are left handed and there are a number of people that are more appropriately labeled as
ambidextrous (Holder). Many scientists state that it is almost impossible to come to a definitive
conclusion about the percentages of left and right handers because there is no universally set
standard. Every study has their own guidelines to what constitutes someone as left-handed or
right handed with a few overlaps, but with no basic criteria. Without a basic criterion for
everyone to follow and the fact that experts are still trying to fully understand left hand
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dominance, the results will continue to vary. And although these results may vary from study to
study, everyone concludes that the left-handed community is indeed a minority within our
society.
There is a statistic that states if both parents are left handed. 50% of their offspring will
be left-handed. Two right handed parents have only a 2% chance of producing a lefty. To test
these percentages, an online survey was conducted to compare the statistic to a real life test. The
survey was anonymously completed by 70 individuals that answered various questions
concerning their hand dominance and the hand dominance of the generation before them. Less
than 9% of the individuals interviewed were left handed and produced a left handed individual or
was produced by a left handed parents. Furthermore, less than 3% of the individuals surveyed
were left handed produced by right handed parents or produced a right handed child (Smith). The
results werent exactly in sync but in both test there was a less likely chance for a two right
handed parents to produce a left handed offspring.
The origin of handedness is a topic that is widely debated with many different attributed
causes. Many people have devised theories that attempt to prove why some people are left-
handed and why some people use their right. It is said that handedness more than likely begins
with development in the uterus when fetuses suck the right thumb more, move the right arm
more, and the fetus tends to lie with the head turned to the right according to Gutwinski (850).
Claiming that the development of handedness begins in the uterus is assumed to be evidence to
an individuals postnatal handedness.
It has become important to understand the causes of someone being left-handed because
in the 21
st
century, many people have trouble accepting theories that have no scientific backing
that can be tested and proven consistently. Others have attributed hand dominance to genetics
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and the fetus DNA stating that hand dominance is directly related to particular diseases and
developmental abnormalities. One disease that has constantly appeared within scientists
research as being directly correlated to left-handedness is schizophrenia.
Left-handedness has not been a widely accepted feature in all cultures and societies
because the preference is not understood. In other countries being left handed is an unwanted
trait and is seen as an indication of subordination well into the 20
th
century. And up until the
1960s, it was not uncommon for adults to force children to write with their right hand in order to
alter their hand dominance. Or to encourage the child to use his or her right hand instead through
conditioning during the adolescent stage. There are also cultures that find the left hand to be the
contaminated hand because that hand is most commonly used while using the rest room to wipe
oneself.
Being a lefty was believed to have a negative impact on the persons wellbeing, moral
standing, intelligence, and abilities. For example, at the end of the nineteenth century infamous
skull-measurer Cesare Lombroso was never hesitant to say that left-handedness was an
indication of a criminal personality. Left-handedness was and is also falsely linked with
illnesses of all kinds, including mental retardation, alcoholism, asthma, hay fever,
homosexuality, cancer, diabetes, insomnia, suicidal urges and criminality (Smits 9). In most
cases theres a complete absence of solid evidence for any such association but with no evidence
to prove otherwise, most theories are never truly dispelled.
Regardless of the theories and causes presented by scientist, people have become a bit
more accepting of the fact that there are left-handed people in the world and they do have their
own special needs. These special needs begin as a child first learns to write and requires utensils
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tailored to a person that is left-handed. Most school systems do not offer craft items such as left-
handed scissors, desks with arm rest for the left elbow, spiral bound notebooks with binding on
the right instead, and even sporting equipment. The minute luxuries listed will make a lefty feel
just as comfortable in society as a right handed person.
Being left-handed has received so much negative attention the term itself has gained a
negative connotation. But there are people within this community who are trying to clear up the
misconceptions that come with left-hand dominance. The Left-Handers Club is an organization
that promotes research about left-handedness in a positive manner in order to bring helpful
information to light to make the manufacturers of everyday items aware. Items such as scissors,
pens, notebooks, rulers, calendars, and can openers, being designed for the right handed
majority, have been a serious problem within the left-handed community. Recently, groups like
the Left-Handers Club have mass-produced these everyday materials in order to ease the pain
and discomfort felt by the left-handed individual. The production of these items is the beginning
of society accepting and helping the left-handed community become comfortable writing in a
right-handed world.
The negative statements arent as profound as they were centuries ago because there has
been new research published about how left handers have an advantage in many different events.
Such as numerous different sports, having a better chance of receiving a high IQ, adjusting more
easily underwater, being better able to multitask, having better memories, recovering from
strokes faster than right handed individuals, and Katie Kerns states they are even said to be more
artistic according to published research in the American Journal of Psychology (p. 6). Even
though countless individuals have dubbed lefties as weird or abnormal, they are actually
more cognitively advanced.
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After surveying 70 individuals, 29 being left handed, admitted to suffering from
many left handed problems. These problems are mostly experienced when writing have always
been known as just being a part of being left handed. Most left-handers do not know that there
are preventative measures available for them because the awareness of the issue is so low. Many
surveyors disclosed they suffer from smudging ink on papers, aching hands, writing slower than
others, aching back or limbs, all due to improper writing techniques. Many left handers are not
taught how to correctly hold a pencil or pen or how to angle the paper to help prevent smudges.
This knowledge along with the tools produced specifically for the hand dominance is pivotal in
the success of these individuals and the community is not aware that these options are available
to them.
As a community, we understand how difficult it is to live in a world that is made based
on right hand dominance which can be difficult to explain to others who arent. Even though
mankind has taken small steps towards making a left-handed person feel equal to a right, we still
have more progress to make. When it comes to adolescence, teachers and educators should be
educated on how to help a child learn to write with their left hand along with providing aids that
will also help. Educators should never encourage a child to always write with their right hands
because it is severely uncomfortable to many left handed individuals. It is also important to have
desks that have the elbow space for the rare left hander to prevent uncomfortable writing
techniques. Together, is has to be ensured to the left handed community that the negative
theories attached to the name will not cause them to be alienated against or left out and it is
possible for a lefty to live in a right handed world.
Works Cited
Dunham, James, and Todd Davenport. Handedness [Electronic Resource] : Theories, Genetics,
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And Psychology / James Dunham And Todd Davenport, Editors. n.p.: New York : Nova
Science Publishers, c2012., 2012. GEORGIA STATE UNIV's Catalog. Web. 17 Apr.
2014.
Gutwinski, Stefan, et al. "Understanding Left-Handedness." Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
108.50 (2011): 849-853. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Holder, M.K. " Why are more people right-handed?" Scientific American 1 Nov. 2001: Web 18
April 2014
Kerns, Katie. "12 Little Known Facts About Left-Handers." Everyday Health. N.p., 30 Oct.
2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Klass, Perri. "On the Left Hand, There Are No Easy Answers." New York Times 6 March 2011.
Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
"Left-Handers Club." Lefthandersday. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 April 2014.
Platt, Geoffrey K., Mohsen Shafizadeh, and Gordon Revolta. Children And Handedness
[Electronic Resource] : Making The Right Choices / Edited By Geoffrey K. Platt,
Mohsen Shafizadeh, Gordon Revolta. n.p.: Hauppauge, N.Y. : Nova Science ; Lancaster :
Gazelle [distributor], 2012., 2012. GEORGIA STATE UNIV's Catalog. Web. 18 Apr.
2014.
Smith, Jimina. I Have to Hand It to You. Survey. Typeform. 14 March 2014. Web. 17 April
2014.
Smits, Rik, and Rik Smits. The Puzzle Of Left-Handedness [Electronic Resource] / Rik Smits.
n.p.: London : Reaktion Books, 2011., 2011. GEORGIA STATE UNIV's Catalog. Web.
17 Apr. 2014.
Willingham, Jay. "Left Handed Facts and Statistics." Daily Infographic. N.p., 11 June 2011.
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Web. 18 Apr. 2014.