Dubai: Maya Thomas will never forget the reaction she got when, as a small child, she held out her left hand to collect some coins from her uncle for her bus fare.
"I said: 'Can I have 20 rupees?' I extended my left hand and I got a real earful from him. He told me: 'That's not the hand with which you take money,'" she said.
It was not the first time that someone had reacted negatively to Thomas's left-handedness and it probably won't be the last time.
The 38-year-old Dubai-based Indian journalist, whose 11-year-old daughter Shruti is also left-handed, said there were many ways in which life was harder for left-handed people.
Negative attitudes
"Can openers, knives, scissors ... plenty of things like that are designed for right-handed people. They are so selfish because they are in the majority," she said.
If new research is anything to go by, there are downsides to being left-handed that might extend beyond negative attitudes and awkward household implements.
Scientists have found that left-handed people may be more likely to develop schizophrenia.
The research, which was led by a team from Oxford University, discovered that a gene called LRRTM1 that increases the chance of someone being left-handed also makes it more likely that someone will become schizophrenic.
The gene is thought to be involved in the development of asymmetry in the brain, although Dr Clyde Francks from the project said that the "vast majority" of left-handers would not go on to develop the schizophrenia, which affects about one in 100 people.
"There are many factors which make individuals more likely to develop schizophrenia," British media quoted him as saying.
Dr Raymond Hamden, a clinical and forensic psychologist from the Human Relations Institute at Dubai Knowledge Village, was similarly cautious about reading too much into the research.
"It would be wrong to say that left-handed people are prone to schizophrenia. There are no psychological disorders associated with left-handedness or right-handedness," he told Gulf News.
Even if that is the case, Jumana, a left-handed Palestinian in her 20s, said life for left-handers was still tougher than for the right-handed.
"It is not just teasing that's the problem. In the Arab world it is shameful to be left-handed. It is even considered irreligious. The left hand is considered unhealthy and unhygienic," she said. "When I was at kindergarten, if I reached for something like a spoon with my left hand, they would hit me on the hand or ban me from eating."
More creative
However, Jumana said that, for all the difficulties, she is happy to be left-handed.
"They say we are smarter and more creative," she said with a smile.
Amanda Khouri, 26, from Lebanon, is a partner in Satwa shop Four Leaf Clover that specialises in selling items for left-handed people.
She said there were many "little things" that made life for left-handers like her more difficult. "When I write with my left hand, I smudge the ink so you need quick-drying ink if possible," she said.
Khouri often uses special left-handed pens that make it easier to write without touching the page - making it less likely that the ink will be smudged.
"Left-handed people have a habit of curving their wrist inwards when they write, but these pens let them rest their elbows straight. It's a lot easier," she said.
Their other names
- Four of the last six US Presidents - Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford - were left-handed.
- Left-handed people are sometimes nicknamed "southpaws", especially in relation to sport.
- The fact that right is a synonym for correct is said to demonstrate society's bias against left-handedness.
- Left-handed people are sometimes described as being "cack-handed", which means clumsy.
Have your say
Are you left-handed or do you know someone who is? Do you think society is biased against left-handed people?
Your comments
I don't think being left-handed is anyone else's choice in life. So why should it be a problem? I am left handed, my husband is left handed and we live a normal life.
Christine
Ajman,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 15:08
I really doubt the issues you have mentioned in here about left-handed people. I have friends and relatives who are left-handed, they are all better than any right-handed people. They are all smart, creative and to add up, they are more stylish than us right-handed people. I would love to be left-handed. In this fast moving world do any of us have the time to notice who is left-handed?
Faiz
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 14:47
Yes I am left-handed myself. There are certain things which are not to be done with the left hand according to Islamic teachings, and that's why sometimes I get embarrassed by fellow Muslims. Yes there are certain things in which right-handed people dominate, especially using weapons, they are all designed for right-handed people and all tools are also designed for right-handed people.
Umer
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 11:14
Of course the society has a bias against left-handed people. It was difficult whilst in school! However left-handed people are more likely to be better at sports and are much more creative. Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci were both left handed individuals!
Emmanuel
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 11:02
I have no problem being a left handed person. In fact I feel proud and lucky when people tend to stop by and notice the strange style of writing from my left hand. I am proud to be a lefty after all.
Muhammad
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 10:30
I don't see what the big deal is, both my sons are left handed, they never had any problems whatsoever. Problems occur when parents try to interfere and make a big issue of it, if you just ignore the whole thing, as they grow up they cope well, even switching hands if the need arises.
Frances
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 10:11
I am left handed and proud of it. I don't care what comments people make. If all things are created by god then left handed people should get the same amount of respect as we were created that way. I look at left handed people as being special as there are not that many of us.
Fay
Ajman,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 09:32
I am a left hander since childhood but have never faced any such problem. But there are some people who take it wrongly. So what if people are left handers, should they stop doing any work? I am proud to be a left hander.
Gopal
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 09:31
Frankly, I have never heard of biases towards left handed people. I do know and have friends who are left handed and most of them never had any problems, moreover they were encouraged rather than discouraged to use the left hand.
Syed
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 09:29
I am a left-handed myself but I don't feel that society has been biased in any way. People are a bit curious when you extend your left hand to get a pen or something and the immediate question asked is: Are you left-handed? Whenever anybody asks me this question (it's always out of curiosity) I reply "Yep, creative and intelligent person". Always look at life with the positive aspect instead of digging for the negative.
Evon
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 09:16
This is very interesting, I am a 46-year-old left-hander and my wife and my 5 1/2 year-old daughter are all left-handed. Being left handed never bothered me in my life. Our handwriting is more beautiful than any other right-handed people. This keeps us very close to each other.
Denzil
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 08:30
I am a left-handed person and I face certain difficulties in using those items which are made for the majority of right-handed people. For example, in India, the tables in the schools/colleges have the writing table design which can be used only by right-handed persons. It will be a real pain for me to write the exam using this table. Further, in schools also, people teased me for my left handedness. Elders also have bias that I should not use my left hand, instead only right hand should be used. Even now, also, I face difficulties in using many right-handed articles/machines etc. Anyway, still I am proud that I am a leftie.
Rajan
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 08:26
I write with my left hand but in doing my chores at home and other activities, I use my right hand. When I was in high school, my left-handed classmates drew better than my right-handed classmates. For me, there's no difference between right and left-handed. If right handed people have some tricks in writing, the left handed also have.
Dennis
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 11, 2007, 08:02
