Valentine’s Day is upon us and all across the globe people will be filling stores to purchase something special (or not so special) for their significant other. When one imagines Valentine’s day, they picture one partner running all over the place to find a reservation to their partner’s favorite restaurant or freaking out on what to buy them. This is a day used to celebrate love and friendship, but the truth of the holiday is almost never discussed. Surprisingly, Valentine’s Day was created to celebrate death!
A Little History on Valentine’s Day
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Around A.D. 270, the Roman emperor, Claudius II, banned marriage because he thought single men were better soldiers when they had no commitments, but the heart wants what it wants and the soldier’s hearts wanted to get married. The priest, Valentine, would wed couples behind the emperor’s back. Once he was caught, the emperor ordered Valentine’s death and heValentine became a martyr. However, he isn’t the only Valentine to become a martyr, there’s about a dozen, including a woman!
Against the Rules
The acts of the priest Valentine show us that love truly breaks all barriers. Love is something that for the most part is desired by all, and even all those years back, love was a privilege you had to fight for. Today LGBTQ+ couples and hetero couples still face challenges; but the LGBTQ+ community has the most difficult time getting to love and feel loved. St. Valentine is an example that demonstrates that going against the norms or rules is sometimes necessary in order to be truly happy in life..We all have the same rights to love and Valentine’s Day shouldn’t just be a holiday for women, but a day to celebrate love and friendship between all people.
Love is Love
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In observing this day of love and friendship, we are playing a role in fighting against the unfair norms that society had and still has about love. Making this day valid in a sense is accepting that everyone has the right to love who they love and if marriage is the books for them, then they also have the right to marry who they want. I’m not saying that you particularly now have to go and and do something because you have to celebrate the day that represents equal right to love. Simply allowing those couples and friends that actually like to do activities on this day is enough, no one likes to be judged for making their love extra noticeable on Valentine’s Day. Love should be celebrated everyday and shouldn’t need a specific day, but it’s a day to be extra appreciative that we’re allowed to love who we love.