Friday 14 February 2014

In defence of Valentine's Day

By Ross Parry

It’s the 13th of February and that means the floodgates of soppy gifts and declarations of love are about to blow open for that annual mush-fest: Valentine’s Day.

Now I can’t say I’m a particular lover of the day of romance but I’m not a hater either. I just see it as a nice excuse for people to consider how wonderful our bonds with other people (or Game of Thrones box sets) can be. However, there are a seemingly endless group of people who take such a dislike to Valentine’s Day that they just can’t keep it from the world.

I don’t know what it is that makes Valentine’s Day haters so vocal, nor do I think their reasons for being so are justifiable. I can lob this blanket statement out there fairly safely, because they all give pretty much the same reasons. Obviously there will be some who buck the trend – usually those who have just had a bad Valentine’s experience themselves and develop a dislike to it in the same way Chandler Bing hates Thanksgiving – but for most haters it’s a pretty samey affair.

Undoubtedly the most criticised aspect of International Copulation Day is the commercial aspect. Gift and card giving are the standard for a lot of celebrants and this apparently makes the entire thing a sort of Clintons-fabricated retail wet dream, where shop owners all meet in an ominous warehouse and circle jerk over the prospect of capitalising on the love and fondness of others.

This position as a whole is absolutely baffling. Yes it is commercial, but no more than pretty much any other public holiday you care to mention. At least this one is based on something genuine and universal – love. At Easter most of the country buy each other chocolate eggs and bunnies solely because it’s tradition. I know the UK is technically a Christian country but most of the country no longer follows the religion, and Easter is a vaguely adapted ancient Middle-Eastern religious festival in the first place.

There are no qualms with Halloween. No quibbles with Mothers’ and Fathers’ days. Most bizarrely, not one of the people who make this criticism of Valentine’s Day mentions the month-long monetary sink hole and potential tack-fest of Christmas in their complaints.

I’m not saying that it’d be any more okay to hate on these festivals, but at least be consistent guys. If that is truly your reason for hating Valentine’s Day, then apply the same reasoning to them too. If it isn’t, I suggest you ask yourself what the real reason is.

You do not need to engage in the commercial side of Valentine’s Day in order to celebrate it. Nor do you even need to consider it at all, should the feeling take you. I think that this’d be a shame though.
Sure, we can tell people that we love them at any time, but it’s just nice to have a specific time to be especially intimate with your loved one, or to appreciate the emotional bond that two people can share objectively, or finally ask your crush out, or to reflect on how happy you are being single. These are the things that it’s about, not buying cards.

In a world where cynicism is seemingly forever on the up, how many days can you count that are about the most basic but wonderful emotional connections that we share with each other? Not many. So please, don’t try to spoil one of the only ones left with your weird card-shop conspiracy theories. Smile and think of love. Or stick a box set on. Season four is out in a couple of months.


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