At Her Campus @ UAlberta’s meeting on February 5th, 2020, some of our members responded to the writing prompt: What does Valentine’s Day mean to you?
Here is what they had to say:
- My Relationship With Valentine’s Day – Nicole de Grano
-
I hate the amount of pressure that’s always placed on Valentine’s Day. It makes me so uncomfortable sometimes – that I’m expected to have a significant other, I’m expected to go on a date, expected to make of it something that I don’t see it as. The commercialization of a single date makes it so unrelatable, and makes me feel like I can’t celebrate it, especially because of my relationship status.
Being single is so much fun.
I’ve never been in a relationship, and don’t foresee it happening soon, due to the fact that I barely even have time to talk to myself. So to me, Valentine’s Day is a day that I designate to hang out with my girlfriends. We bake cookies and cakes and drink coffee and tea, and watch the cringiest rom-coms that we can find. Instead of focusing on the fact that I don’t have a boyfriend, I focus on the relationships I do have and make those even stronger.
- How I Feel About Valentine’s Day – Kate Puim
-
I believe it’s over played out and it’s not so much about appreciating people and loving others
but more of a marketing ploy. It’s about gifts and not about spending time with each other and
being thankful it’s more of a competition on who gets what and what their night was like. Its
teaching women to be materialistic and value items instead of people. And you should be
appreciating and loving people every day, but now people feel forced to buy something. People
become ungrateful and materialistic and soon after valentine’s day people break up because
they were used. Its another cuffing season.
- What Is Valentines Day? – Mandisha Kaur
-
It’s the time of the year, another capitalist showcase of “love.” Flowers, lingerie, chocolate, sexist commercialization, good things and bad all tied into one.
As Virginia Woolf said, most times I sit here dumb helpless with wonder at the peculiarities of human existence.
- What Valentine’s Day Means to Me – Robin Andrews
-
Valentine’s Day makes me think of lingerie. And lingerie makes me think of the numerous times that I’ve gone into multiple stores to try things on and how every time I felt like lingerie does not work on my body. I feel like a young girl who snuck into her mother’s drawer and is playing dress up. Body image is something that everyone is challenged with, but in my opinion, having an expectation that on this day women should surprise their partner with red lace is putting unique, diverse people into a single stereotyped box. Some people might feel the most sexy when they are naked, when they are in their comfortable pyjamas, in lace, in cotton, covered up, in their favourite little red dress, or in the shower. I think that it is unrealistic to expect all women to feel sexy in the same clothes or situations.
- What Does Valentine’s Day Mean To You? – Maia de Borja
-
My relationship with Valentine’s day is complicated. I find it both unnecessary and exciting.
I have been with my boyfriend for 5.5 years. We have both never took Valentine’s Day too
seriously. I used to view Valentine’s Day as a corporate holiday that drains my wallet and that I
never wanted to really participate in. Now, though, I take it as an excuse to spoil my boyfriend
more than usual. I know that I can give him a gift any day of the year, which I do sometimes, but
I think that Valentine’s day has been socially structured to enforce one’s relationship status.
But Valentine’s Day isn’t just about my boyfriend and I. Valentine’s day is about receiving those
little folded pieces of paper from kids. It’s about the chocolate gift baskets my mom will leave on
my desk every year. It’s about watching other people that are in love be in love and finding
comfort in the fact that I have found someone on the same wavelength as me.
What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Let us know on our Instagram @hcualberta, and we would love to add your point of view to this article!