Published May 9, 2017 in Episode 71
Picture yourself holding a pen. Put that pen up to an imaginary piece of paper on an imaginary desk and pretend to start writing. Which hand did you use? The hand that you picked to write is your dominant hand, and the choice you make is called handedness.
Most likely, you put up your right hand. A small percentage of you would have put up your left. If you are in an Asian country, let’s say Việt Nam, it would be an even smaller percentage.
So why is this? Loa’s Chí-Linh Đinh was wondering the same thing, so she tries get to the bottom of handedness in Việt Nam.
(Photo: Loa/Chí-Linh Đinh)
As a lefty, Chí-Linh practices all her calligraphy at a 90° angle, and her pen often “farts” (tune in to hear this).
Đoàn Thị Loan, 99-year-old featured lefty (Photo: Loa)
Đoàn Thị Loan is 99 years old, but still recalls being hit as a child when she tried to use her left hand, so eventually she switched to her right. But she still uses her chopsticks with her left.
Chí-Linh digs deeper to uncover some information about “transcendent attitudes” and how the Vietnamese language reinforces some of the stigmas surrounding left handedness.
And despite the stigma, studies have shown that many lefthanders end up being more ambidextrous than their righty counterparts. Additionally, the stigma is slowly going away, and in many sports, lefties have the advantage.