Lefties urged to show their hand

It was once thought to be the devil's hand, but today lefthanders are uniting to show the rest of the population what makes them special.

Today is International Lefthanders Day, and righthanders worldwide are being encouraged to go leftie so they can get an idea of just how many products are designed without much thought for the remaining 15 per cent of the population.

Scissors, shovels, fridges, golf clubs, mouses for computers, and doors all favour right-handers.

International Lefthanders Day has been celebrated annually since 1976, when it was first declared by Lefthanders International.

It stems from the fact that not too long ago being lefthanded was thought to be "abnormal" and something that should be fixed.

But studies have found that on average, left-handed people are more likely to be intelligent, creative and homosexual.

And what's more, the "sinister handed" among us seem to excel at both the good and bad. Some-left handed people of note include Leonardo da Vinci, Jimi Hendrix, Barack Obama, Robert De Niro, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig Van Beethoven. And, possibly, Jack the Ripper.

Steve McGuirk, who runs and owns Lefty's Lefthanded products in Blacktown in Sydney, says living left in a righthanded world is hard.

via Lefties urged to show their hand - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

What makes a lefty? A March 2006 article says:

Left-handers are more likely to have a left-handed relative. But researchers have yet to find the gene or set of genes that pick one hand over the other. Most scientists agree that handedness exists on a continuum. The idea helps explain why some people bowl with their left but hold a spoon in their right. Truly ambidextrous people, who have indifferent preference for either hand, are extremely rare.

What percentage of people are left handed? According to anythingleft-handed.co.uk:

... The most recent study, by Prof. Chris McManus who has conducted widespread research into the genetic causes of handedness, has concluded that 13% of the population are currently left-handed.

It is widely believed that there are slightly more left-handed boys with normally about 5 left-handed boys for every 4 left-handed girls. A study by Nigel Sadler of 3,000 schoolchildren in Waltham Forest, London recorded an even higher percentage of boys (11.6%) than girls (8.6%). Some research has linked left-handedness to the level of testosterone present in the womb before birth, which may explain the imbalance. ...