Really, what's it about the left hand?  I don't know about other tribes, but it seems to me that it's only we Yorubas that are particularly concerned about this issue; and usually make a big deal out of it.  I personally find it very annoying when an 'elder' considers it disrespectful, or starts telling me some BS whenever I hand something over to him/her with my left hand, no matter how respectfully I do it. 

Also, apart from the issue of handling over stuffs, another perturbing issue is that of writing.  You may be surprised at the length at which some Yoruba parents will go in order to ensure their child does not become a lefty.  There was this former classmate of mine who showed me a mark on her left thumb, asking me this same question.  She told me it was her mother who used a razor blade to cut her left thumb when she was very much younger, in order to stop her from becoming a lefty (in writing).  She therefore had no choice, but to start learning how to use her right hand.  Apparently, her mother succeeded!

So now my question is:  What makes the left hand different from the right?  Why would anyone find it offensive if I used my left hand to hand something over to them?  Is the left hand not a part of the body too?  Is the left hand cursed or what?  I really don't get it .  I need an explanation!



P.S.  I am right handed.

yeah they did that to my aunty too and now she is ambidexterous. they did it because she unconsciously used her left hand to do stuff and ppl who did not know she was left handed found it rude.

its just part of the culture and the significances of right and left. similar things are found in other cultures, like in middle eastern places where bellydancing originated from, it was believed that the lower body adn the upper body should be kept separate from each other, hence the reason why in that form of bellydancing, when u move the top the bottom stays still.

i think that you should respect that part of culture esp since u urself are righthanded, i mean sometimes you may forget (i do) but you should try and just do it, so as to fulfill all righteous after dont you still dobale even if ever so slightly for elders, will u say you want to shake their hand?

yeah some parents take it to far, but thats because they strongly believe theres sumn wrong with the left. as for elders who make too much noise about it, ignore them jare. i understand continous usage of left but if one slips every now and then i dont see the reason for lecture. some of them dont even deserve ths respect they are demanding.

the yoruba culture is very big on ageism and sadly this can have negative effects.

Culture needs to be respected. IT is not only in Yoruba land it is in all tribe in Nigeria

hmm personally i dont like it, common this is the hand in which u use to clean ur self after using the CR, lol u'll then use it to hand things to me, ewww, but wid writing thats not a problem, but i personally dont like people who hand things to me wid their left hands/

@aloib, I do not see anything wrong with using your left hand in doing things. But I believe that we should all try to respect our culture. That is the only thing we have going for us as Africans. In a round about way it brings about good morals in us without us realizing it. By the way don't you use the loo or is that not part of your own bodily function? On a more serious note most of us will not realize the family values we have for having a culture. American blacks feel so inferior and jealous of us Africans because we know where we are coming from, I used the present tense here, so read the meaning!! I will also point out that left hand usage does not bother me, but if it is the culture of a people then please idenify with that. Afterall the English people without their culture have failed terribly in raising their children.

Chuma.

ghettochyk:

in fact, i think it's a Nigerian thing.[/b]

yahoo!:

IT is not only in Yoruba land it is in all tribe in Nigeria

It's not only a Nigerian thing either. I still remember some Chinese dude who spotted my left-handedness and told me how he was forced to change. Apparently all his siblings are/were righthanded and it was difficult for him to eat during group meals since his left hand bumped against someoneelse's right hand and he of course lost, he was using the "wrong" hand. It was either change or go hungry.

No biggie, I have presence of mind to hand stuff out with my right, or with both hands.

aloib:

hmm personally i don't like it, common this is the hand in which u use to clean your self after using the CR, lol u'll then use it to hand things to me, ewww,

What makes you think lefties don't clean up after themselves with their right hands. . Would you still prefer they give you stuff with their right hands then?

mochafella:


What makes you think lefties don't clean up after themselves with their right hands. . Would you still prefer they give you stuff with their right hands then?

its psychological, oh well i just put it in my mind that everyone uses his /her left hand, lol

Well, what we are saying is that we need to correct our minds, and disregard such irrelevancies.

The left hand is the hand of the Devil. Accepting Lefty is welcoming the Devil in open arms. This is historical facts amongst world cultures and religions.

then cut off the left hand then!!!


please you use two hands to wear you clothes, take a bath, type on the keyboard and even using the phone

why is it that when YOU STRETCH IT OUT TO ACCEPT sumfin that it BECOMES THE DEVILS HAND

GOD created humans, the DEVIL HAS NO PROPERTY RIGHTS COS HE CREATED NOTHING

wow I have learned something new today.in my culture it makes no differece if you give from right or left hand.never knew it makes such a difference in africa.

I am not sure but I thought I was reading on the net that it is not good to hand something over with the left hand because that is the hand you clean your butt after using the bathroom? but I'm not sure if I got this right.

gigitte:

its just part of the culture and the significances of right and left. <snip>

i think that you should respect that part of culture esp since u yourself are righthanded, i mean sometimes you may forget (i do) but you should try and just do it, so as to fulfill all righteous after don't you still dobale even if ever so slightly for elders, will u say you want to shake their hand?

Of what relevance is it?  Why should I respect that part of culture that makes very little, or no sense at all to me?  To fulfill all righteousness?  What righteousness?!!  Personally, I do not find it rude or offensive when a kid (who also knows the 'culture') uses his left hand for me; so the reason why anybody would just disregard the left hand for no justifiable cause leaves me totally deluded.  Some even ridiculously refer to the left hand as 'The hand of the devil'.  How pathetic!

As for 'dobale-ing' (prostrating), that is totally understandable and makes a lot of sense, as different people have different ways of paying obeisance to elders, in different parts of the world.

Perhaps, until someone explains to me the rationality behind this infuriating perception of the left hand, I'll continue to see this as non-sense in the highest order!

There is absolutely nothing wrong in using the left hand but our culture should be respected. My mum understands becos it only my twin broda out of all her kids that is not lefthanded. But she trained us to respect the elders and hand them things with the right hand. She is never offended when anyone gives her any thing with the left hand.
The best thing is to allow kids use the hand that naturally becomes active to them. But they should be trained to respect the elders in the use of their hands.

What does using the left or right hand have to do with respect?

Personally, anyone who takes offence at me giving him something with my left hand can go jump in a lake. out of respect for the Ancient Ones i use my right. i was brought up that way, i guess.

@Chumas
Why is it that we africans believe that just cos our forefathers used talking drums and used to prance around half-naked in the village square we're the only ones that have a culture? I know the americans don't have much of a culture, but the English? that's stretching it a bit far. Here's a hint: they're a lot different from us, so dont look for similarities. Behind most fears and myths and beliefs there's culture.

I'm not dissing african culture o! not in the mood for any flaming war, hence this disclaimer!

its all bout Culture!

@texazzpete,

Let me first touch on the issue of our fore fathers dancing around half naked!! I must admit that they danced that way, that is who they were. The black people started wearing clothes and taking regular showers before the white men. Please read your history. We were actually underdeveloped by the advent of the white mans greed that brought them to Africa.  Now that we are all wearing clothes, what have we achieved? Nothing but rape, child molestation/abuse and mans physical attraction to his fellow man. All these decadence came with the so called civilization.

Culture is open to interpretation. The English people have abandoned their culture totally in favour of "politically correct issues" Once you do this, morals and family values go out of the window. Look at the divorce rate in the western world. Single parent families are so abundant that girls do not want to get married anymore. Social misfits all come from broken homes in general give or take a few. The teenagers in the UK now are brought up by parents that were not disciplined as kids. No stable family background, how do you expect him/her to raise a child?

Let us embrace our culture. Most Nigerians that have not been to the UK will not fully understand that the white man does not hold a candle to us. They will be totally disappointed when they get here.

Chuma.

respect your culture people

Why should we? Because you say so? That's no reason.

If an aspect of our culture doesn't pay us, we should simply discard it. Culture is made for the people!

what you people dont know is that culture is dynamic. a lot of things needs to change in the yoruba culture

lol!!!!!!!this our culture self!!!i wonder what the bible says abt it!!!
anyway i even noticed that peeps with left hands usually have the best of handwriting

i agrree with yah!  candylips not only yoruba but other cultures too round the world though we have to focus on nija'sha!

yeah!lefty o righty ,its just a hand

You're right, Left or Right it's just a hand!

I was a born lefty and I didn't have probs with that but as usual those around kept "correcting" me, eventually I learnt how to use right for somethings but couldn't change completely, it just wasn't me.

Now I use both left and right, for somethings- left only, some other things- right only and for some I use both left and right like writing and sweeping!

chumas:

@texazzpete,

Let me first touch on the issue of our fore fathers dancing around half naked!! I must admit that they danced that way, that is who they were. The black people started wearing clothes and taking regular showers before the white men. Please read your history. We were actually underdeveloped by the advent of the white mans greed that brought them to Africa. Now that we are all wearing clothes, what have we achieved? Nothing but rape, child molestation/abuse and mans physical attraction to his fellow man. All these decadence came with the so called civilization.

Culture is open to interpretation. The English people have abandoned their culture totally in favour of "politically correct issues" Once you do this, morals and family values go out of the window. Look at the divorce rate in the western world. Single parent families are so abundant that girls do not want to get married anymore. Social misfits all come from broken homes in general give or take a few. The teenagers in the UK now are brought up by parents that were not disciplined as kids. No stable family background, how do you expect him/her to raise a child?

Let us embrace our culture. Most Nigerians that have not been to the UK will not fully understand that the white man does not hold a candle to us. They will be totally disappointed when they get here.

Chuma.

The white man underdeveloped us, you say? In the entire history of the black race, apart from maybe the nubians and ethiopians, is there any naija race that invented or used the wheel? If scientists hail the invention of the Wheel as one of he major milestones in science and tech. what does that say about our development?
Dunno about the 'fully clothed' part ure talkign about. if anything, i think the white men (english) were even overdressed! The romans, the gauls, the goths, the huns, all wore clothes.
Let's get real. the Gypsy, romany, jewish and many other cultures are everybit as rich as that of the yorubas, hausas etc.
I still persist that many aspects of 'culture' and tribalism are what draws nigeria back for true development. Stalin once asked "How many divisions does the pope have". I make bold to say "how many megawatts of electricity does your culture generate?"
Do not despair, however. The home video crowd owe a lot to Nigeria's rich culture. So all you guys who watch such crap, you know where to lay the kudos.

I appreciate m culture o! I just dont think its right to diss other cultures.

There are more single parents and broken marriages in the Uk, true. But what's the HIV infection rate, the Ritual murder rate (which is tied directly to our culture o!) and the number of babies dumped in refuse heaps in Nigeria? Answer honestly now, !

GermanLady:

wow I have learned something new today.in my culture it makes no differece if you give from right or left hand.never knew it makes such a difference in africa.

I am not sure but I thought I was reading on the net that it is not good to hand something over with the left hand because that is the hand you clean your butt after using the bathroom? but I'm not sure if I got this right.

No one said it made a difference in Libya, Egypt, Uganda or any other African country. They have stated that it makes a difference in various cultures within Nigeria.

Let's get the facts and not assume. 

New:

No one said it made a difference in Libya, Egypt, Uganda or any other African country. They have stated that it makes a difference in various cultures within Nigeria.

Let's get the facts and not assume.

I don't assume anything,this I even heard among TURKISH people also - and other african people,not only nigerians. so I guess I got some facts huh?!

it's not exaclty a nigerian thing in iran and saudi its considered rude to shake hands with the left or take or give anything with the left.

Well, it is actually rude to give someone something with your left hand
i'm not against people using their left hand in writing but itz bad when they use their left hand to eat or give something.

My cousin is a lefty and he has a beautiful handwriting which i admire very much
However, he eats with his right hand

so our culture is better coz its 'disrespectful to use ur left-hand'?

We Africans always try to assume that we are more 'moral' and we 'have culture' and all that BS. When is this going to stop? . Culture that emanates from ignorance needs to be thrown out of the window.

Texazzpete, Please let me clarify u on something. The English men wore a lot of clothes because of the weather in their country. They did not wear it out of choice. We wore clothes to cover our body and cooked our meals way before the English men. This is Hardcore history that the white man would rather you did not read. The mother of all nation was black, it has also been verified. Life started in Africa way before it began in Europe. The Albinos were driven to a colder climate by their parents because they could not stand the heat and sun in Africa. The white men are a product of black parents. This is History.

Civilization started in Africa and we all know that. The father of medicine was Imhotel a black man before his death and Socrates (sp) stole his work. This is all history. The white man out of the fear of the black race has tried every conceivable thing to discredit us, hence the slavery etc. We developed this Western nation come to think of it (slave labour) because the white man is naturally lazy. If you look at old UK in the 13th/14th century, they all lived in squalor. I am a British born Nigerian and I've lived here most of my adult life. Going into history of events was my way of trying to find out what we have done to this people. Granted that we are a backward nation now because we are trying to emulate the so called civilization of other people. We were not allowed to grow in our own direction, our government was created by other people (the British) who did not have our welfare at heart. We are suffering from that now. Greed has also become a part of our underdevelopment.

Chuma.