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From: rcf@pnet01.cts.com (Bob Forsythe)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,alt.romance,soc.men,soc.singles
Subject: Re: Are Humans Naturally Monogamous?
Message-ID: <6193@crash.cts.com>
Date: 9 Dec 90 05:36:04 GMT
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Organization: People-Net [pnet01], El Cajon CA
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mara@panix.uucp (Mara Chibnik) writes:
>In article <6128@crash.cts.com> rcf@pnet01.cts.com (Bob Forsythe) writes:
>
>  >     The difference, Hillel, is that once someone decides they are
>  >made and not born, it's a much shorter step to deciding that they
>  >can change if they "really want to", and the person deciding begins
>  >coming up with tactics to *make* them want to.  In the case of
>  >handedness, this belief led teachers to beat my grandmother and
>  >mother's hands, tie their left-hands behind them, and generally
>  >make them ashamed of what they were.  In my case it was more
>  >subtle.  Just a teacher proudly announcing she'd never give an
>  >"A" in handwriting to a left-handed person because we slanted
>  >our letters the "wrong" way, and determinedly holding my wrist
>  >down so I couldn't hook my hand when writing, then belittling
>  >me when I smeared ink across the page.  And all because of a
>  >belief that we could be right-handed "if we really wanted to".
>
>Well, I think you're both right.
>
>The real problem that Bob brings up is *not* the belief that handedness
>is a matter of choice and subject to change; the problem-- the _evil_
>if you will, is the belief that handedness ought to be made to conform
>to a standard and that no liberty is to be permitted a person to write
>as befits that person's style.
>

     Okay.

>It's easier to argue against submitting to that kind of control if you
>permit yourself to argue that it wasn't a matter of choice, but I
>believe that a person who has equal facility to write with either hand
>ought to be permitted the choice of which one to use-- or of which to
>use when.  
>
>No?
>

     I suppose; as long as you keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of
ambidexterous people are "naturally" left-handed.

>-- 
>mara@dorsai.com                        cmcl2!panix!mara
>                     Mara Chibnik                      
>     Life is too important to be taken seriously.


Bob c/o The OTH Gang
rcf@pnet01.cts.com