MUSEUM-L Archives

Museum discussion list

MUSEUM-L@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
"Burke, Laurence M. II" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 18 Aug 2000 11:19:17 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (41 lines)
<<One colleague told me that many young artists have reading disorders and
so should not be expected to do academic work.  This disorder, she said,
is indicated by the fact that they are left-handed.>>

I suppose I've lived a sheltered life, and had the advantage of living in
this modern age where such things are seen for the meaningless misguided
fears that they are.  Still, as a lefty,  I hope that this person got a very
strange look at the very least, and preferably a lecture about what a load
of [insert expletive of choice] that idea is.  I inherited a love of reading
(as well as my left-handedness) from my father, and my late wife was also a
lefty and an early and avid reader.  As to academic work, my father is a
mechanical engineer with an MBA, I've got my MA, and the only reason my wife
didn't have an advanced degree is because she didn't have the opportunity to
get one.  (I'm sure that she would have gotten one eventually had she
lived.)

I knew a woman on the staff of my high school who was lefty, and started her
own business selling left-handed products and items with left-handed
slogans.  I always got the impression that she had (at some point) had to
"defend" her left-handedness, perhaps against such ideas as quoted above.
But she was sufficiently older than me that I always considered that kind of
thing to belong to the distant past, along with my left-handed grandmother's
experience with the nuns' rulers in Catholic school.

In the grand scheme of things, such handedism (?) is certainly less
widespread than racism, sexism, extreme nationalism, and probably a few
other -isms as well.  But shouldn't that make it easier to stamp out?  And
does that make it any less dangerous?

Thank you for your time.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled
list.

-Larry Burke

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).

ATOM RSS1 RSS2