Unusual – but not unnatural – human variations are all around us

Imagine seeing colors when listening to music or tasting textures while reading. Such experiences happen for individuals with synesthesia, a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sense triggers an involuntary experience in another unrelated sense.

The exact cause of synesthesia is unknown, but it is believed to be a genetic predisposition that occurs in about 1-4% of the population. Unusual (statistically), but not unnatural.

Being left-handed is another human variation. Only about 10% of the population is left-handed, making it unusual but not unnatural. There is no definitive answer about why some people are lefties.

Historically, left-handed people faced discrimination and even punishment because some cultures associated left-handedness with witchcraft, sin, or inferiority. Things slowly started to change in the U.S. beginning in the early 1900s. Eventually, people accepted the fact that, although unusual, being left-handed is not unnatural.

If you sat next to someone at a dinner party, and they told you their child had synesthesia, you would likely marvel at the diversity of humanity. You wouldn’t hurl accusations of “indoctrination” at them or suggest that their lack of discipline and “proper guidance” somehow caused their child to have synesthesia. You, like the rest of society, would simply accept that synesthesia is just one of many human variations.

If a table mate at a dinner party was left-handed, you might offer to switch spots so they could sit at the left end to avoid elbowing (or being elbowed by) another diner. You wouldn’t berate them for having watched movies with left-handed characters; nor would you suggest banning books about left-handed people from libraries, insinuating that learning about left-handed people somehow made them into a left-handed person. You would simply accept that being left-handed is just another one of many human variations.

When a baby is born, doctors look at external genitalia and declare a baby to be either male or female. Most people who were labeled male at birth grow to identify as men, and most people who were labeled female at birth grow to identify as women. But some people’s gender identity – their innate knowledge of who they are – is different from what was initially anticipated when they were born. Most of these people describe themselves as transgender. And while being transgender might be unusual (statistically), it is not unnatural. Those of us who have had the privilege to know and love transgender individuals are able to see their uniqueness as just one of many human variations.

As awareness of transgender identities grows, visibility increases, which can lead to the perception of a rise in prevalence. In reality, it may simply be that people do not need to deny or hide their authentic selves. This appears to mirror what happened during the 20th century as acceptance of left-handedness grew.

According to the Washington Post (“The Surprising Geography of American Left Handedness,” 2015), during a period of history when lefties were persecuted and the social majority (right-handed people) tried to make them conform, studies revealed lower percentages of lefties (somewhere between 3% and 6%).

As persecution dissipated, the perception was that left-handedness was on the rise because over the span of several decades the percentage rose to slightly more than 10% by the mid-1960s. However, the percentage has remained relatively stagnant ever since.

It is likely that approximately 10% of the population had always been left-handed but had hid that fact in order to be accepted without fear of reprisal. (No more fear of being accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake!)

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories is “What Was I Afraid Of?” The story follows a character (the narrator) who repeatedly encounters a pair of pale-green pants, which are able to stand on their own despite the lack of a wearer. The narrator is afraid of the pants, particularly when the two bump into each other one dark night. The pants react with fear and trembling, mirroring the character’s own initial reaction. The narrator realizes that they are just as strange to the pants as the pants are to them, leading to a moment of understanding and acceptance. The narrator and the pants eventually become friends, no longer trembling or shaking, and instead smiling and saying “hi” to each other.

Interested in putting aside your fear? Are you open to growing in your understanding and acceptance? Reach out to PFLAG. Follow us on Facebook. Attend an event – so long as you bring an openness to making new friends.

We’d like the opportunity to smile and say, “Hi!”

Sarah Schlegel is president of PFLAG Sauk Valley.