Valentine’s Day

By Dawson Beard, Skyline Columnist

Valentine's Day. A day to fill the hearts of those you love the most and to line the pockets of greeting card, candy, jewelry, and floral companies.

Speaking as a bitter single man, I tend to focus on that latter facet of the holiday of love, wondering if commercialism and materialism have taken over a day that was originally meant to show your significant other how much you care for and love them.

Surprisingly, 2020 reported the highest consumer spending figure on Valentine’s Day in history with $27.4 billion dollars spent on Valentine's gifts. This consumer behavior is troubling; it seems an awful lot like the importance of this romantic holiday lies in the receiving of gifts , and not so much on giving of affection.

Society has molded Valentine’s into a day when individuals expect tokens of adoration bought with hard earned money. People act as though they needs these grand gestures in order to be satisfied by their significant other, rather than being satisfied by the natural adoration communicated through words and actions that would be acceptable on any other day.

The level of expectation on Valentine’s Day is arguably at its highest point as commercialism runs wild. Statistically, women spend only half of what men spend on gifts during the month of love. . Society as a whole has created an aura of expectation that unfairly places the burden on men to buy anything and everything to show their significant others that they love them, while it is perfectly acceptable for women to give less, or even nothing at all. Why can’t more men receive Valentines from their significant others?

Some Valentine’s Day scenarios to exemplify this imbalance between the sexes:

A man gives his girlfriend flowers and chocolates, and his girlfriend gives him nothing.

“That’s completely fine!” says society. “It’s mandatory that he gets her something because he’s the man!”

Now, a woman gives her boyfriend chocolates and a new necklace, and the man only gives his girlfriend a card.

“How DARE that man only give his girlfriend a card on Valentine’s Day!” says society. “Doesn’t he love her?”

That is the problem with Valentine’s Day in the 21st century. It has morphed into a consumer holiday where it is no longer about the love in your heart, but about the “love” that comes out of your wallet. Love should be natural, thoughtful and spontaneous, not store-bought.