Sinister, Dexter, Sinister, Dexter, leave no one behind

Would you rather be sinister or dextrous?

I write with my left hand. This has caused a few problems for me. Writing from left to right, it is easy to smudge. Left-handers adopt curious pen grips and writing techniques to avoid this, leading to cramps and dodgy handwriting. Scissors are made for right hand use, so we have to grip them differently to get a clean cut. Other tools are similar, though I am not so markedly left handed that I need left handed tools for most jobs, and I play musical instruments and ball sports using the same grip as a right hander. As we are only 10% of the population, the world is not designed for us.

Rather more annoyingly, there are some common phrases and concepts in English, and other languages, that stigmatise left handed people. Dexter is Latin for right, so value is linked to being dextrous and right-handed (as the word right suggests), whilst sinister is Latin for left, and evil or deviant connotations attach to being left handed in many cultures. “Cack-handed” is a particularly egregious one, possibly referring to the left hand being used for cleaning oneself, and meaning that one is clumsy and perhaps unclean. Having two left feet is similar. Being brought up Catholic, I was also referred to as a left-hander in that context. Having a natural attribute that could be used as an insult makes me uncomfortable or angry.

Reflecting on this, I remembered how Francis, a disabled people’s representative in Uganda, argued at a meeting I attended that in schools, a percentage of desks should be adapted for children with disabilities, and others for left handed children. And I realised that I had experienced, in a very small way, some of what my disabled brothers and sisters do. They also inhabit a world that is not designed for them and experience prejudice and stigma, which is even embedded in the language they all must use. There is no escaping the fact that they are second class citizens in every way, even in many cases in their own families, and at the back of the queue for virtually all social entitlements that everyone else takes for granted. This helps me to feel even more solidarity with them, though of course I am far from claiming parity of disadvantage. (I attended a University that the TES currently ranks second in the world, behind one that we don’t mention, had amazing jobs, a nice home, good family life……). It does cost a bit of trouble and money to make structures and institutions inclusive for everyone; to provide wheelchair access, sign language interpreters, autism friendly events, sport opportunities for people with intellectual disability, Braille signage, etc., and to think about the language we use. But failure to do this means that we are saying “you are less than us” and by not including all of us in the human race, we are so much diminished. It’s loads better and more fun with everyone included!