Just 10% of the entire global population are left-handed – roughly 830 million people out of 8 billion. Ask any lefty how life is as part of this minority and they’ll (eagerly) tell you the honest truth: the world is built for right-handed people. From smudgy notebooks to fridges that open the ‘wrong’ way, our left-handed comrades are suffering a daily struggle the rest of us know nothing of.
What’s worse, social stigma has turned lefties into walking, talking bad luck charms – the human equivalent of a broken mirror. Why there are so few of these left-handed unicorns among us remains somewhat of a mystery. Scientists typically chalk it up to evolution, while conspiracy theorists have their own ideas (in fringe corners of the internet, you’ll find people who don’t believe left-handers are real…). Either way, if there was ever a time to unpack exactly what the life of a left-hander looks like, it’s today, August 13, better known as National Left-Handers Day.
Left-handed lore
We’re the only primate species that favours one hand over the other on such a population-level scale. A 2026 Oxford University study theorised that humans developed a preference when we evolved to walk on two legs, and our hands became free to be used for more precise tasks like preparing food and making tools. Our brains also got bigger, with different regions becoming specialised in certain tasks – those that often required a ‘specialist hand’ to carry them out. Together, these changes may have created conditions for a hand preference to evolve – but we still aren’t exactly sure why it became the right.
As has been the case throughout history, the smaller group became a target. In a number of countries, folklore says that Satan was left-handed, meaning lefties became linked to the devil, witchcraft, and bad luck. Getting out of bed with the left foot first? Bad luck. Passing a drink to someone with your left hand? Bad luck. Ironic really, when you consider that, due to how our nerves are wired up, it’s actually the left side of the brain that controls the right side, and vice versa.
And the myths don’t stop there. There’s the hypothesis that all left-handed people were originally twins in the womb. Known as the ‘vanishing twin’ theory, this is fiction that seems to have stemmed from fact: twins are slightly more likely to be left-handed. Another ‘fact’ often shared is that lefties die younger due to using right-handed equipment. This claim stems from studies in the 1980s and 90s, which have since been disproven. But not all the urban legends are negative. A fun (but false) fact is that all polar bears are left-handed. Again, this one is sadly not true.
The trails and tribulations of keeping left
Filipa Castro, 28, has been a left-hander since, well, birth. ‘Growing up, there was a lot of stuff that was clearly made with right-handed people in mind,’ she tells Metro. ‘Writing became my biggest enemy. Your hand often ends up overlapping with what you’ve just written, so if you’re not using a pen that dries quickly, things get smudged. ‘With phones, you’ll notice that all of the important buttons are on the right side,’ the producer, from London, continues. ‘On WhatsApp, the “send” button and the “block” button are both on the right-hand side.’ While these issues may seem trivial if you’ve never experienced them, they all mount up. ‘Unconsciously, we have to be the ones to find ways to make our lives easier, because the world doesn’t make it easy for us,’ Filipa adds.
Reece Morrison, 30, is also familiar with these plights, but says he found trying to learn different sports especially frustrating. He tells Metro: ‘My Dad wanted me to be a golfer as a kid and the only way to teach me was to make sure I mirrored his swing, so now I play right handed which is hard to un-learn. ‘I tried to pull a pint the other day but due to its positioning I had to pour it with my right hand and ended up with a rubbish pint full of foam!’ Being left-handed can also put your body in harms way – Reece would know. ‘Whenever I use scissors I have to squeeze the blades together with my palm so they sit in a way that works for me and it gives me a bad cramp,’ he shares. ‘Opening doors is a hindrance too, the door opens into my body making the manoeuvre awkward and therefore my entrance into a room.’
Like Reece and Filipa, influencer marketing strategist Andrea La Rosa, 30, felt different from a young age. ‘At school I would often have to sit by myself because I needed more space to write,’ she tells Metro. ‘And I was once even called a “child of the devil” by a nun.’
What’s the best thing about being left-handed?
It’s not all doom and gloom. Lefties are known for being highly creative – Leonardo da Vinci, Paul McCartney, and Lady Gaga to name a few. They can be extremely deft athletes too, with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Babe Ruth, and Manny Pacquaio all managing to force their right-handed rivals out of their comfort zone.
As a long-time lacrosse player, Sophie Alcock, 27, is all too familiar with this. The chartered surveyor tells Metro: ‘I was the only left-handed player on my team. Because it was quite uncommon I had an edge when on the attack, as I wasn’t expected to drive from that side.’ In the face of centuries of grisly superstition, Sophie is surprisingly fond of the idea that ‘in history, left-handers were supposedly witches and were thus burnt.’ ‘I like to think that I’m a secret witch,’ she adds.
Metro lifestyle editor Kristina Beanland is a proud lefty, who says it’s ‘like being in a secret club.’ ‘The best thing about being left-handed is getting to tell people that you are,’ she explains. ‘People are always surprised — I’m never entirely sure why — and I like to lean into the fun stereotypes, like the fact we’re clumsy (endearing) and creative (so chic). ‘It’s always fun meeting another lefty, too; you get a mini moment of bonding those normie right-handers can never enjoy. ‘As long as you can adapt to the everyday inconveniences, it’s a low stakes way of being different. If left-handedness is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.'
