The Button Differential
A tribute to buttons. A tool we use every day with no complaints.
Did you know that there is a discrepancy in the orientation of buttons in men’s and women’s clothing? Why? Do right-handed men button up faster than the left-handed?
Do left-handed women button up faster than the right-handed? Is that even a problem worth discussing? Or is that another one of those gender inequalities the society is willing to ignore?
Men holding weapons by the right-hand: “it was more convenient and quicker to use their left hand for unbuttoning.”
Warfare “To insure that an enemy's lance point would not slip between the plates,”
"Given right-hand dominance, women tend to hold their infants in their left arms, keeping their right arms relatively free. So shirts whose open flap is on the right, one theory goes, makes it easier for them to open with those free hands for breastfeeding."
"Servants were often required to help rich ladies get into and out of their elaborately buttoned dresses—and servants, like everyone else, were most commonly right-handed."