# Is being left-handed a "choice"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 17, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315 "2001-04-17T20:44:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/61 "2001-05-05T15:44:49Z")
Let me say that being left or right left is a choice, but quite often the result of someone elses choice. I had a very dominant mother who provided me with a right handed spoon (the scoop part was at a _right_angle to the handle. However, when fountain pens were finally abandoned and ball pont pens accepted in the public schools in the late fifties, she abandoned my handedness re-education, and I was left confused. My predominant hand is still my left, but I hold my bat, hockey stick and golf club the “right” way. Consequently, my slap shot sucked, I never got home runs, and my golf game needs not to be discussed. I shoot a rifle left handed but I am right-eyed, leaving me with a preference for archery. I am a sport enthusiast however, so I gravitated to football basketball and soccer where my confused orientation wouldn’t be an issue. I could blame all this mother, but why the masterbation with the right hand? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/62 "2001-05-05T16:19:18Z")
Left-handed people can be converted! My younger sister was very left-handed all her life, until the auto accident that left her left arm paralyzed. She is now a rightie like all us normal folk! No, that’s not my older sister, the lesbian. She’s a normal right hander. ---
**Author:** ![gadgetgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/63 "2001-05-06T03:27:31Z")
I’m sittimg here wearing my “Left pride” T shirt. Wanna make something of it?!?!? ---
**Author:** ![gadgetgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/64 "2001-05-06T03:29:28Z")
damn this right handed keyboard. I meant to type “sitting”. ---
**Author:** ![dixiechiq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@dixiechiq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dixiechiq)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/65 "2001-05-06T20:04:05Z")
i’m not handedist. even though i’m right handed, i think all you lefties should have equal rights [just not special rights]. maybe you shouldn’t be so open about it though, just for your own good. it makes regular people discriminate against you. also, it would probably be better if lefties married lefties, you don’t want to confuse the kids after all. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/66 "2001-05-06T22:55:53Z")
Oh, so you _support_ Same-Handed Marriage, huh? That’s what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, you know. ---
**Author:** ![dixiechiq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@dixiechiq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dixiechiq)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/67 "2001-05-06T23:34:13Z")
i don’t support same-handed marriage, i tend toward requiring it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/68 "2001-05-07T22:58:32Z")
Being a lefty isn’t entirely genetic. Two lefties (such as my parents) only have a 40% chance of producing a lefty child, which explains how my brother ended up a righty. Either that, or he was recruited by the Rightists as a preschooler… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/69 "2001-05-09T10:55:39Z")
I’m not sure whether this is a myth or not, but I remeber reading somewhere that in right-handed males, the left testicle hangs lower than the right (this seems to be true in my case - _ouch, too much detail_), whereas in lefties, it’s the right one that swings lower, but I’ve not had either the opportunity or the motivation to research this myself. if it’s true, this would tend to suggest that there is a strong genetic factor involved. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/70 "2001-05-09T12:31:45Z")
Assuming you’re applying transitivity, for your reasoning to hold, you must first establish a genetic cause for testicle hanging. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/71 "2001-05-09T15:03:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\* > if it’s true, this would tend to suggest that there is a strong genetic factor involved. \*\* So it’s not my fault my kid is a leftie? I was always told it was the parents’ fault, being over protective or not makin 'em do enough sport. Thank goodness for that. I always tried to set a good example, but it never worked. P.S. Should lefties be allowed to teach schoolkids? My sister is a leftie teacher, should I alert the parents to this, or will the kids benefit from being exposed to _differnet lifestyles_? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/72 "2001-05-09T16:14:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Assuming you’re applying transitivity, for your reasoning to hold, you must first establish a genetic cause for testicle hanging. - I have no idea what half of this even means, but if there is a statistical correllation(sp?) between dangle-side and hand-side, it would have to be genetic, or at least congenital wouldn’t it? The only other explanation I could think of would be cupping, but males don’t tend to do the cupping thing until adolescence, after they have already dropped. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/73 "2001-06-22T16:09:01Z")
You’re too late, **Dignan** , the [Revolution](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=35244) has already begun. Viva la lefties! ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/74 "2001-06-22T20:14:54Z")
Just to let y’all know that I plan to be insufferably pleased with myself for a few hours since I was the one who successfully nominated this thread to Threadspotting. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/75 "2001-06-22T21:01:47Z")
Bah. Your so-called ‘leftie revolution’ is nothing but a sham to replace one form of handedness-domination with another. It is no more a true revolution than changing the channel on TV. Step back and look at world history! Look at current events! Look at how many formerly-oppressed groups have fallen to the desire for revenge and gone on to do some oppressing of their own, thus utterly forfeiting their moral advantage. I beg of you: _do not fall into that trap!_ Step beyond the short-sighted squirrel-cage of reprisal! Are you going to merely stoop to the level of your oppressors, or are you going to take the harder road to true liberation and freedom? [sup]Why can we all just get along?[/sup] * * * To define someone only by their handedness is to not see the rest of them. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2001, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/76 "2001-06-23T01:40:28Z")
> [@](#): > > The only other explanation I could think of would be cupping, but males don’t tend to do the cupping thing until adolescence, after they have already dropped. “Cupping thing”? Is it safe to assume that I don’t want to know what this means? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2001, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/77 "2001-06-23T09:58:46Z")
I think we should all give young Jab a big hand… the **right** hand, of course. ---
**Author:** ![nerv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@nerv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nerv)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2001, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/78 "2001-06-23T16:45:16Z")
Sunspace has a point, but doesn’t go far enough. To any reasonable person both left- and right-handedness should be abhorrent. The hands are the tools of Satan! The only true path is to become “non-handed”, and eschew the use of these vile appurtenances altogether. The mouth can carry out most functions in their place. Through years of dedication I have taught myself this holy way. Using toilet paper is still a bit of a bitch though. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/79 "2001-06-23T16:51:04Z")
I’m left handed, but I’ve worked around it. I use a mouse right handed (i no longer can use it left handed), I wair my watch on my left wrist (another righty characteristic), and I play the drums right handed (can’t play it left handed anymore). ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315/80 "2001-06-23T17:18:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gadgetgirl \* > \*\*I’m sittimg here wearing my “Left pride” T shirt. > Wanna make something of it?!?!? \*\* I hear you comrade, I am currently here wearing my “I can’t even think right” T-shirt. Deal with it righties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-being-left-handed-a-choice/62315.md?page=5)