Ahhh Valentine’s Day, or as I like to call it, Monday. My least favourite time of year is around the corner and let me tell you, I’m dreading it. I don’t say this as a cranky single woman, I say this as someone who simply hates the so-called holiday. Why do we call it a holiday if we still have to go to work and school? Without the day off, it is really just one more thing to add to the never-ending to-do list. My issues with Valentine’s day have nothing to do with love and relationships but more with the pressure of the day.
First of all, a day centered around love puts an enormous amount of pressure on couples both new and old to prove their love for each other. While the idea of Valentine’s Day is nice, it is an unnecessary stressor, especially for couples who have not yet fallen in love. Your relationship is not worth any less if you haven’t told your partner you love them, yet you may feel you don’t have the “right” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In addition, couples who are long distance or have busy schedules are given unrealistic expectations of planning a Valentine’s Day night.
If the day was still simply about celebrating the ones you love I would have less of an issue with it, but with growing consumerism the holiday has become more and more about proving your love through extravagance. Your love for someone should not be determined by how much you can spend on one dinner or how many dozens of red roses you can afford. This pressure to spend money on your partner puts financial strain on the best of us, let alone those who are already struggling financially.
On this same note, social media has turned Valentine’s Day into a competition of who can prove they love their partner the most. For most couples, the day is not about showing your loved one how much they mean to you, it’s instead about showing the world how much your loved one means to you. The competitive energy on social media is not only annoying but unnecessary. Those in relationships who choose not to post about it may feel their love isn’t worth as much, and those who are single seeing all the posts about love and relationships may feel uneasy.
Overall, Valentine’s Day is not for me. Whether you agree with me or not, this Valentine’s Day celebrate the way you want to, not the way society has deemed an appropriate display of affection. Love should be something you show every day, whether this is to your partner, yourself or those around you. Don’t feel pressured to spend unnecessary money and make sappy social media posts to prove your love.