V Day
Today is the day a lot of women anticipate and a lot of men dread. I know that for me, Valentine's Day never quite met the mark. Nobody ever went all out and "wowed" me with a beautiful bouquet of roses. My husband always remembered it, and gave me a card, usually chocolates, and once he gave me an absolutely beautiful amethyst bracelet. Yeah, that was good. But with us, Valentine's Day never felt quite "Valentiney". My husband and I were never really a love match. We were more friends than anything else.
I think with all the hoopla the card, chocolate and jewellery companies push on us in their greed at this time of year, we are all just set up for failure. Women, for expecting some kind of an emotional connection to come out of a material item, whether it be a bouquet of flowers, piece of jewellery, or item of lingerie; and men, for trying to get their wives or girlfriends something that will make their women feel their love for them and make them happy. A lot of men feel that they are held hostage by Valentine's Day. They are expected to go out and spend a lot of money on something they feel is unnecessary, which it is, if love is truly there; and then, when they do go out and make the effort, their significant others are usually disappointed.
I'm not sure how Valentine's Day got turned into a big lovefest, but the real St. Valentine (among one theory) was a priest in Rome around the year 239 who was beheaded for aiding martyrs in prison. I guess aiding martyrs in prison could be considered an act of love, but not exactly the act of love Hallmark or Godiva or Victoria's Secret advocates. Love, according to them, is more along the lines of swiping your credit card and affixing your little signature to it.
A lot of people say the spirit of Christmas has long been bastardized and overridden by the frenzy to just buy, buy, buy. A friend of mine called it a "giant fuck farce". The real meaning in life is getting harder and harder to find, under all the brightly coloured, loudly screaming brainwashing we hear on a daily basis.
Where is the love?, as the old song says. For me, the love is on my futon at night in front of the t.v. with my darling little girl.
I think with all the hoopla the card, chocolate and jewellery companies push on us in their greed at this time of year, we are all just set up for failure. Women, for expecting some kind of an emotional connection to come out of a material item, whether it be a bouquet of flowers, piece of jewellery, or item of lingerie; and men, for trying to get their wives or girlfriends something that will make their women feel their love for them and make them happy. A lot of men feel that they are held hostage by Valentine's Day. They are expected to go out and spend a lot of money on something they feel is unnecessary, which it is, if love is truly there; and then, when they do go out and make the effort, their significant others are usually disappointed.
I'm not sure how Valentine's Day got turned into a big lovefest, but the real St. Valentine (among one theory) was a priest in Rome around the year 239 who was beheaded for aiding martyrs in prison. I guess aiding martyrs in prison could be considered an act of love, but not exactly the act of love Hallmark or Godiva or Victoria's Secret advocates. Love, according to them, is more along the lines of swiping your credit card and affixing your little signature to it.
A lot of people say the spirit of Christmas has long been bastardized and overridden by the frenzy to just buy, buy, buy. A friend of mine called it a "giant fuck farce". The real meaning in life is getting harder and harder to find, under all the brightly coloured, loudly screaming brainwashing we hear on a daily basis.
Where is the love?, as the old song says. For me, the love is on my futon at night in front of the t.v. with my darling little girl.
posted by emily pound at 9:39 AM
4 Comments:
I agree. Valentine's Day is too commercial for my taste. My boyfriend though is still guilted into attempting something even though I tell him not to. Emotion is in actions not gifts. All I ever want is his time with me.
Valentine's feels like it's a forced I love you rather than a honest once.
~Lily
I have always been a hugehugenon-fan of Valentine's Day. I don't believe it stands for anything but open season for Hallmark and the flower places and Godiva to triple the prices of their products and use guilt to force people to buy stuff for those they "love".
I've always militated against Valentines Day and have made it a policy to bring flowers, chocolates and jewelry on non-date occasions, such as a really beautiful warm day in winter, or a marvelously spectacular day when my sports team has done well, or a day when I've had a major victory at work or a day that I feel really down and wish someone would do something spectacular for me.
I don't find the holiday to stand for anything and it is my least favorite "holiday" each year.
Hey girls,
I agree with you both. It's such a commercial racket. I don't care about the presents, I just care that the guy shows he loves me and treats me well, CONSISTENTLY. Not just one day of the year.
Hi Huge,
We're all in agreement here. I'm sure you've heard that more people commit suicide on holidays than at any other time of the year. I believe Christmas is the #1 culprit. Why? Because we are told that holidays are SUPPOSED to be like THIS, and it just isn't reality for a lot of us, so we get depressed. Some more than others, obviously.
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