Cherubs, and expensive roses.
It’s that time of the year again when couples are excited and singles are freaking out! Whichever team you’re in this year (#teamthirdwheel!), I hope you have a fantastic Valentine’s Day! (You know, if you celebrate it at all and whatnot.)
But what is Valentine’s Day? History says that it’s the commemoration of one Saint Valentine and his act of martyrdom, marrying couples in secret which led to his imprisonment. This caused him to cross paths with his one true love: the jailer’s daughter. Since he was in jail, couples he wed would often send him flowers and notes to show their gratitude and the same is true for him and his lady. He sent his girl a note on his execution day, the 14th of February and signed it “From your Valentine.”
Sweet beginnings are used and abused by modern-day society, we can’t ignore the fact that Valentine’s Day is very much commercialised. Businesses and advertisers needed to give people something to spend on in-between Christmas and Easter, thus Valentine’s Day! Under the disguise of love, Valentine’s Day seems to do little more than raise women’s expectations and give men immense stress to deliver.
After all the heart-shaped lollies, roses, and the misuse of cherubs; how relevant is Valentine’s Day? Apparently, relevant enough to be the fifth most celebrated holiday in the world. Why does society (literally) buy into this holiday? With the power of the internet, you’d want to believe that there will be people who know that Valentine’s Day, much like other holidays such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, is used as an advertising tool to gain profit. This saddens me because I think that love should be celebrated every day.
False advertising has been a prominent issue in society for years, and with the Bunnings and Bike Barn fiascos that recently hit the news, isn’t it possible that Valentine’s Day counts as false advertising too, with its huge and unrealistic upselling of love?
We all will leave this world one day. Would your life’s highlight reel include Valentine’s Day? If you only made extra efforts on Valentine’s Day, then I’m sorry to say but I don’t think that’s love at all. You simply bought into the idea of love trying to please society rather than sincerely extending love to your significant other. Gestures of love are most genuine when you do it because of an overflow of love in your heart that you can’t help but pour it out – and not because advertising told you to.
