Stuff has a story from AAP about the general suckiness of V Day:
The rosey day has an evil side too, according to those who say it's nothing but an excuse to sell cheesy cards, naff gifts and cheap chocolate.
The anti-Valentine's brigade says it is a day of obligation rather than celebration, and one that puts pressure on fledgling relationships while making the pain of the lovelorn even more acute.
The article goes on to give four reasons (just four?!) to back up their argument, opining V Day's role in our materialist society, how hard it is on the restaurant trade, the stress it puts on relationships, and the evilness of non-fair trade chocolate.
3 comments:
I strongly agree on the general suckiness of Valentine's Day - and in fact all celebrations that try to turn emotions into shitty commodities.
Or am I just bitter because I've never got a Valentine?
In all seriousness, I'd never make my partner jump through any absurd hoops to show affection - partly because I think it's a poor way to treat people, and partly because jumping through hoops shows no affection at all. It just shows you're scared of your partner's wrath.
My partner and I have never really done Valentine's Day, birthdays or Xmas. We figure that the things that show affection are the ones done spontaneously - ie I find a cricket book in a second hand shop I know he'll love, he sends me a text to cheer me up when he knows I'm having a shit day. It means more than a dumb, overpriced paint-by-numbers gift!
I confess I did get my partner something, which was a jokey present to make him laugh. As our wedding anniversary is close to V Day that has long eclipsed the pressure of advertisers to "celebrate" on the 14th. He didn't get me anything, and I didn't expect him to as we had discussed that we weren't doing Valentine's this year. I only got him something because I saw something I thought would cheer him up, and it was a couple of days before the 14th. I'm not at all disappointed not to get anything. One year he got me a big bunch of red roses, which was nice, but not really necessary :-)
I have a friend whose birthday, and the anniversary of her relationship, are both very close to Valentine's, I'm not sure how her partner copes! And another friend told me about the expectations of his partner, which were rather high by my way of thinking, but at least that was out in the open and she made it explicit what she wanted rather than making him guess.
My birthday, my partner's birthday, Valentine's Day, and our anniversary are all within a two-week period, with the last three falling within five days of each other. We usually have enough trouble working up the energy to do something for our anniversary, let alone a commercial holiday.
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