Left Handed and Fountain Pens

[John in Covina]

This comes up now and again and for the left handed writers the fountain pen can present a challenge. I had not noticed this section of John Mottishaw's web site before but when I did just minutes ago thought it would be a good place for those that have the um errr well "affliction" or maybe "predeliction" of left handedness.

http://www.nibs.com/Left-hand writers.htm

 

[Edward]

Interesting link, John, thanks - turns out I'm an overwriter, like the bottom picture. I wish my paternal granfather, who I remember pretty much always writing with a fountain pen, was still around - I'd love to know how he did it (my sinister nature comes from that side of the family). Of course, he by habit always wrote with his right hand first, having had that beaten into him at school in the 20s.

 

[Elaina]

I'm an underwriter, and I hold my paper almost horizontally (I also write with no slant to my letters), kid's an overwriter.

They still try to force kids to write right handed, FYI. Son's 2nd grade (left handed!) teacher tried to make all the kids right handed, just fought with them last year over the same thing in 4th grade.

My problem with any pen I have is they try to get me to buy ball points and larger nibs. I already write so small it would make it unreadable with anything larger then a fine point, and I need a really fine tip. My problem with fountain pens is that I don't draw my letters, and you almost need to, not to mention the ink stained finger I get from dragging it across the time.

Although it's an interesting article! I can now blame my klutziness on being left handed!

 

[Shangas]

You gotta be kidding, right? Today in the 21st century and teachers are still forcing lefty-kids to write right?

I'm willing to bet my collection of fountain pens that those teachers have absolutely NO idea WHY they force lefty-kids to write with their right hands.

And the answer is a lot simpler than you might think.

 

[Elaina]

Nope. I asked, probably more rudely then I intended, and I was told it was more convenient on a child. And this wasn't in a rural town, it was in Ft. Worth, TX. His 4th grade teacher said he was the only left handed kid in class (true) and it was what they wanted to do in an effort to improve his handwriting. I have to note, his father was supportive of these both times, I was the one that got nasty about it.

I'm sure it IS more convenient to be right handed. I know the permanent bruise on my forehead will attest to that from where I bang my cabinet into the same spot every morning when I'm half awake and making coffee and I don't remember to move to the other side proves, but it's never actually been all that big of a bother. The most that happens is I have to explain why I want to sit down at a table where I do.

It's not that uncommon, to be honest. In the 80s and 90s I still had teachers try and make me write right handed, last time I was in high school and it was 1992.

 

[Shangas]

Convenience isn't really the right word, as convenience doesn't really enter into it.

The word I would use is "PRACTICALITY".

It's more practical to write with the right hand. It has nothing to do with sinister intentions or evil spirits or God's wrath or any other dozens of excuses I've read.

It has its origins in the 19th century when children wrote their schoolwork with dip-pens and inkwells (Is anyone here old enough to remember that?). Writing with a dip-pen requires a fair bit of skill, as the inkflow can be a bit erratic.

Writing with the left hand meant that your palm smeared the ink as you moved across the page (the ink being very wet and slow-drying). Writing with the right hand didn't present this problem, so forcing lefties to change hands was to prevent smearing ink.

Is it more "convenient"? I should think not. It only takes MORE skill to learn how to write with your other hand. Is it "practical"? I would think so.

 

[Mr Zablosky]

I've changed my lefty stlye over the years and now hold the paper less at a 90 degree than before. This lets me alternate reading and writing w/o jerking the clip board around like a steering wheel.

I remember in elementary school having a bruise-like stain on my hand from dragging it across the writing. No stain now, better ink? different angle? washing my hands more frequently than a 9 year old?

 

[Elaina]

While I was aware of the practicality of it, there is a convenience factor to it as well.

Cabinets, doors and anything that opens toward you are generally set to be done with the right hand in a way that avoids collisions (such as my head).

Scissors, until recently, did not always offer a left handed choice, and even still things like the Gingher's left handed sewing shears are still right handed...with the nut placed on the other side. My tailor points don't offer a lefty option. I have spent my life using right handed scissors upside down.

Coffee cups with one design are made to show only when drinking from the right hand. I get a cool view of Face Cat when I drink my coffee, not you.

Try eating with a group of right handed people, and being stuck right next to one. It requires skill and a grace not to have your arm bumped into dumping the contents of your fork into your lap, usually resulting in having to keep your elbow uncomfortably close to your body because it's not something other people think about.

Tools, while often not one way or the other, requires you to frequently use them right handed. I hate to tell you the number of screws I've had to remove right handed, or broken with too much torque with my left hand. Power saws also never seem to cut as straight in the left hand (and, no, this isn't just me. The majority of the people in my family are left handed. We all have this problem.). Hammering in a nail tends to result in it being somewhat crooked at some point. I have had to learn to hammer in right handed, and never have this problem when doing it that way.

Computers are set to be optimized with the right hand. While I can move the mouse to the left side, many don't have cords long enough. Also, in school, they really don't like, and often don't let, you move the mouse to the left, and you get forced into learning with the right. The numeric key pad is for the right hand, unless you buy a separate one. Using a mouse is still sometimes a conscious effort to get precision work done.

Coat hangers are designed to actually be placed into a closet with the right hand. You can tell when I hang my clothes up when I'm tired since the hook part is facing out, not with the curve out.

Paper was hell as a kid. I still try to put the holes to the right, not the left. Folders, binders and the like also require an additional step. I can't write with them comfortably left in them, I have to move the paper out and replace it when done.

Untying anything done by a right handed person results in a knot, unless I do it backwards.

Manual shifts are designed for right handed people in the US. So are automatics. When I learned to drive, I wanted to use my dominant foot for gas, and it took some time to adjust to it being my right foot, where I have less control. To that end, I am a speed demon, as are most other left handed people I know.

Cold water is on the right. We use more cold then hot water in a day.

Some of these are really stupid and I've dealt with it so long, I've adjusted, but there are a lot of small things that make left handed people do an extra step or two right handed people don't, or you have to approach it in a way right handed people don't have to do either. Writing is a small part of that.

 

[John in Covina]

My dad was a lefty but public school in NYC made him learn to write right handed. He usually wrote right handed, but was able to write with his left too. He was a bit more ambidextreous than most because of the right hand writing I guess.

 

[Lady Day]

My brother and I are both left handed and both Mom and Dad and their parents are righties. So, apparently thats rare. This is one of my favorite sites for left handed stuff and info.

They have a lot of information on children learning to write, history, and 'issues' surrounding left handedness.

Ive always been an underwriter, but Im not a hook writer. My brother is a hook though, which makes me think someone may have tried to get him to be right handed at one time. I rarely smear anymore, Ive programed my self to be conscious of that yeah, right, er left.

LD

 

[armod]

much better than my solution of moving to an arabic, hebrew speaking, or some other country where things are written from right to left. lol

great link

 

[kuwisdelu]

It's more practical to write with the right hand. It has nothing to do with sinister intentions or evil spirits or God's wrath or any other dozens of excuses I've read.

Probably depends where you went to school. A friend of mine went to a strict Catholic school where the nuns quoted just these reason.

And contrary to armod, I think switching to Hebrew, etc., is a great idea!

 

[Shangas]

Probably depends where you went to school. A friend of mine went to a strict Catholic school where the nuns quoted just these reason.

And contrary to armod, I think switching to Hebrew, etc., is a great idea!

Perhaps they did, but I maintain that it's strictly a matter of practicality and/or convenience (take your pick), with no other reasons involved.

 

[Elaina]

Perhaps they did, but I maintain that it's strictly a matter of practicality and/or convenience (take your pick), with no other reasons involved.

Perhaps more recently, although a quick google search for "left handed being a sign of the devil" shows a lengthy list of history and the superstitions with it, and a search for "forcing left handed people to write right handed" shows people discussing their experience with it, and not all of it is old, and quite a few cite these superstitions.

One thing to think of, outside of religious schooling, we don't know exactly why these teachers do this because it is against the law to bring religious beliefs to a classroom, so the superstition may still be very much alive and well, and they remain quiet.

 

[Shangas]

In my mind, superstition and religion are baseless excuses for forcing people to switch hands. If they're going to do it, at least cite the reason I provided.

I think it's more HABIT these days. Let's face it --- who ACTUALLY uses a fountain pen these days? I'm one of a handful of people I know (personally), who uses a fountain pen EVERY SINGLE DAY (I won't let a ballpoint into my ROOM). Back in the days of the fountain pen, writing with the right hand was a necessity, to prevent smudging. These days, I think teachers ask kids to do it purely because of habit --- they don't KNOW why they ask kids to do it - they just DO because everyone ELSE does.

 

[Diamondback]

Computers are set to be optimized with the right hand. While I can move the mouse to the left side, many don't have cords long enough. Also, in school, they really don't like, and often don't let, you move the mouse to the left, and you get forced into learning with the right. The numeric key pad is for the right hand, unless you buy a separate one. Using a mouse is still sometimes a conscious effort to get precision work done.

...

Manual shifts are designed for right handed people in the US. So are automatics. When I learned to drive, I wanted to use my dominant foot for gas, and it took some time to adjust to it being my right foot, where I have less control. To that end, I am a speed demon, as are most other left handed people I know.

Funny thing--I think one of the biggest things that gives me any use of my right hand is that I was raised in an aviation-oriented household, and control sticks are almost always made for the right hand and throttles for the left. (Bit of a speed-demon in the road-simulator too... but that may be just 'cause I'm trying to see if I can ever get KITT to stop accelerating. lol)

 

[Elaina]

In my mind, superstition and religion are baseless excuses for forcing people to switch hands. If they're going to do it, at least cite the reason I provided.

I think it's more HABIT these days. Let's face it --- who ACTUALLY uses a fountain pen these days? I'm one of a handful of people I know (personally), who uses a fountain pen EVERY SINGLE DAY (I won't let a ballpoint into my ROOM). Back in the days of the fountain pen, writing with the right hand was a necessity, to prevent smudging. These days, I think teachers ask kids to do it purely because of habit --- they don't KNOW why they ask kids to do it - they just DO because everyone ELSE does.

It is something you wouldn't do, and that's fine, but it is a base for some people to do it, and not all people base decisions in the same way. I had a grandmother who tried to make me use my right hand as a baby based solely on the devil being in me, and ultimately refused to have anything to do with me at all because Satan had far too much control over me both in my dominant hand and auburn hair. This is a fact I clearly remember being told in a rather frightening way. It had nothing to do with practically, a word you're wanting us to believe is the sole basis for all people choosing to do this, when it's not the case all the time. However, I also believe that you have zealots on both sides of the lines and no amount of rational discussion is going to prove fertile with those sort of people. To that end, I have nothing further to say, since due to my impracticality, my grandmother chose not to have anything to do with me.

DB...I could make a tasteless joke here, but I shall refrain.

 

[Feraud]

A very interesting article. Thanks for posting it.
Another underwriter here. I never realized there were such variations in the writing styles of lefties.
Our the four siblings in our family the youngest and I are lefties. I am not aware of aunts, uncles or grandparents who are.
I attended Catholic schools and was never forced to write with my right hand. The sisters had bigger spiritual fish to fry with the students.

 

[Edward]

I attended Catholic schools and was never forced to write with my right hand. The sisters had bigger spiritual fish to fry with the students.

lol

Back in Ireland, I had a preschool teacher (this would have been in 78/79) used to crack me over the knuckles for drawing / painting etc with my left hand. She was kinda old fashione to say the least! The impression I always had was that attitudes like that were more rooted in Victorian notions of what was "normal" and fear of "the different" than anything else. That said, there was a time, back in the days of the Witchfinder General in England, when being a lefty was a sign of witchcraft, and apt to have you burne at the stake; they also burned violins as "the devil's instrument." It's a good thing those folks didn't live to see Hendrix.

 

[Diamondback]

It's a good thing those folks didn't live to see Hendrix.

Or Charlie Daniels. lol (Granted, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is mainly fiddle, but...)