Why was the International Left-Handers Day set on a 'bad luck' date?
International Left-Handers Day, observed on August 13, was intentionally set on a Friday the 13th. The day aims to celebrate the uniqueness of left-handers and highlight the challenges they face in a right-handed world.
Bad luck by design. Yesterday, August 13, was International Left-Handers Day. The idea was proposed by the founder of Lefthanders International, Dean Rick Campbell. He chose Friday the 13th — a date considered to bring bad luck — due to the fact that left-handers themselves have been considered bad luck for years. The actual implementation began in 1992, when the day became an official date for the British Left-Handers Club. Today is intended to celebrate the diversity of one in ten people, to note the discomfort caused to left-handers in a world that is primarily right-handed, and to create awareness of the special needs of left-handers.
Left-handed through and through
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is left-handed, at least in the sense that he writes with his left hand. The fact that this detail is kept low-key raises the possibility that the Prime Minister thinks it harms the integrity of his 'right-wing' image.
What is your wand hand?
Left-handedness was perceived for many years as being linked to bad luck, witchcraft, and devilry. Left-handers were not burned at the stake, but in 1626, the left-handedness of the English midwife Joan Wright was used as significant evidence in her trial for being a witch. The accusations against Wright included causing illnesses and harm to animals and crops, causing the death of an infant, and predicting the date of people's deaths. There is no record of the verdict.
J.K. Rowling, on the other hand, did not treat left-handedness as an important trait in the Harry Potter series. In fact, the only time the matter is mentioned is when Harry is asked at Ollivander's wand shop, 'What is your wand hand?', and he answers that he is right-handed.
One in ten
According to a huge international study conducted by several universities and including 2.3 million people, it seems that the most reliable estimate for the prevalence of left-handers in the population is 10.6%, which is about one in ten. There are studies claiming that the reported rate of left-handers rose from about 3% in 1900 to about 10% in 2000. The reason is probably not a genetic revolution but the cessation of the forced 'correction' of left-handed children to write and act with their right hand. The variation between countries is huge, mainly due to cultural differences. In China, for example, there are still cultural pressures to write with the right hand, and the reported rate of left-handers stands at 3%.
A surprising assassination
The most famous biblical figure for his left-handedness is Ehud ben Gera, the second judge, who is described as a 'man left-handed'. According to the biblical story, Eglon, King of Moab, enslaved Jericho and other territories of the tribes of Israel for 18 years. A modern interpretation suggests that the left-handedness of ben Gera allowed him to hide his short sword on his right thigh under his clothes (an unexpected place) on the way to eliminating Eglon and liberating the occupied territories.
Right-handers of the world unite
Left-handers may not have been burned at the stake. But research reveals that among the methods for enforcing right-handed writing in schools in the Soviet Union were: tying the left hand to the body, slaps and beatings, pinching, forcing to write with the right hand, and public humiliation. One of the interviewees said that a teacher publicly whipped a student because he used his left hand.
Right-handers are straighter
Studies have found a link between non-right-handedness and being LGBT. The chance of non-right-handed men being homosexual was 34% higher than that of right-handers, and the chance of women being lesbians was 91% higher. But the study did not only refer to left-handers but also to those who use both hands and those who did not have a clear preference.
The battalion of left-handed slingers
The Book of Judges also tells of a unit of slingers from the tribe of Benjamin: 'seven hundred chosen men, left-handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss' (Judges 20:16). They were not used for war against Canaanite nations, but were part of the army of Benjamin in the civil war against the rest of the tribes of Israel, against the backdrop of the gang rape and murder of the concubine in Gibeah. On the other hand, it is possible that the whole story about the rape in the settlement of Gibeah was an invention of biblical panic and poison channels.
Why did they research this?
A 2021 study on the link between masturbation and the dominant hand found that 14% of right-handers used their left hand for masturbation and 29% of left-handers used their right hand. No differences in frequency were found.
What is Inigo Montoya's good hand?
Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts are left-handed, but it is unclear if there is a solid basis for the claim that Marilyn Monroe was left-handed. In the movie 'Ocean's Twelve', Bruce Willis identifies an attempt to impersonate Julia Roberts by the fact that the impersonator signs with her right hand. In 'Pretty Woman', there is a scene where the character played by Roberts, named Vivian, paints her boots with a marker using her right hand. Some attribute this to the use of a right-handed body double in the film. In 'The Princess Bride', Inigo Montoya and the Pirate Roberts pretend to be left-handed to mislead the opponent and then switch to their right hand, with which they fence better.
