Do You Believe In Valentine’s Day?
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Ahhh Valentine’s Day. Is it truly a day of love, or is it just a day of commercialism and consumption? Xena and Elise take on the topic and discuss whether they believe in Valentine’s or not…
Elise - I do believe in Valentine’s Day
It’s intriguing how today’s society transforms the artefacts of history to better fit our needs. A few once-serious festivals commemorating real people have morphed into silly days of community spirit, and none more so than Valentine’s Day. Somewhere along the winding road of our past the Feast of St. Valentine, established by Pope Gelasius almost two millennia ago, became the holiday we define for ourselves; whether it’s a day for celebrating relationships, friends or being single.
You could be cynical and say we shouldn’t slander the name of a traditional festival with commercialised nonsense and grand gestures. But where’s the fun in that?!
Of course, few will dispute the fact that it’s important to maintain some tradition, but we also need to let our hair down every once in a while. The fun about Valentine’s Day is that it can be whatever we want it to be. It’s a chance to laugh at the ridiculous, tacky gifts in the supermarkets without worrying about the mile-long list of presents you have to buy (like at Christmas) or the overwhelming amount of chocolate you’re surrounded by at Easter.
For those who want it to be more meaningful, Valentine’s Day can be a chance to remind your partner how much you love them. It’s something we should be doing all year round but it can be easy to forget in the whirlwind of day-to-day life. Sometimes, we need an extra push to show our affection to the people we love, and this could be the perfect moment.
Every year, I look forward to hearing about the extravagant gesture my friend plans for her fake marriage with another of my friends – it’s a long story! The first was a huge flash mob in the school hall at lunchtime, where she performed I Love You Baby by Frankie Valli from the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. The second was a communal performance, where several people in our year held up signs with the letters of “Will you be my Valentine?” For me, it symbolises how we can take this holiday as seriously or playfully as we want.
It may be a controversial day, but I think it’s a fun opportunity; one which brings some colour to the cold winter months. Give Valentine’s Day another chance this year, see how you can personalise it, and maybe you’ll have a great time.
Xena - I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day…
I don’t believe in Valentine’s in a traditional sense, because whilst Valentine’s Day is a concept that has existed as far as the year 496 AD, it was not celebrated in the same way back then, and is also rather an unnecessary celebration to begin with.
Valentine’s Day as we know it today is rooted in capitalism. It started in the 18th century, where people in Britain began to exchange love notes to each other. Due to this popularity, an artist named Esther Howland saw this concept as a good way to earn money during the month and so she began making her own cards in the 1850’s, which helped to massively popularise Valentine’s Day in the USA.
Then, in 1868, Cadbury began producing its first heart shaped chocolate boxes, which were released specifically for Valentine’s Day, to get consumers to spend more money on their gifts.
By 1913, Hallmark began selling its first greetings cards, further emphasising the popularity of the event, which helped make Valentine’s Day a celebration that is now a worldwide phenomenon.
Now, more than ever before, it seems that people are spending more on gifts that are likely going to be used only once, like jewellery, alcohol, and flowers. This adds up, and in 2020, meant that the UK spent around £1.4 billion on Valentine’s Day with the majority of the gifts ending up in landfills by the end of its life cycle.
Plus, Valentine’s Day, before capitalism took over, has a rather grim backstory, with many stories ranging from performing animal abuse to prove women’s fertility, to gory deaths of saints for performing marriages.
Overall, I think the concept of Valentine’s Day today is about spending more money on your potential or current partner so that they stay with you for the longer term, because they are “supposedly” impressed by how much you’re willing to invest in them. And this shouldn’t be the case! Love shouldn’t have to have a specific time or day where you can do these things, and you don’t need to buy gifts to prove this to anyone. All you need is to tell someone that you love them. And that’s what Valentine’s Day is clearly missing out on.
With this in perspective, Valentine’s Day is a rather flawed concept that has been taken out of context and romanticised to the point that we have lost the true meaning of celebrating romance.
