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Valentines day rant
Feb. 13th, 2007 12:09 pmNow, I know this is normally the thing single people do but I have my own rant for the day of marketing madness.
I DO celebrate this day as a pagan day of fertility - because fertility festivals just BEG to be celebrated. This does not involve presents, cards or goey sentiment that makes you reach for the insulin. But it does involve singing, dancing partying and sex. Much better
Why do I, a non-single person, hate this day? First of all I hate it because it’s incredibly depressing for those who don’t have significant others. People have enough reasons to be depressed
Secondly, the holiday FEELS so fake to me. It may have been BASED on ancient pagan beliefs co-opted by Christians, but it’s still been commercially raped worse than any other holiday. Even Hallowe’en (Saimhain) and Christmas (Yule) have been spared this degree of violation. Frankly having an entire FAKE day to celebrate love sickens me a little. (I also pity poor Cupid and Eros. They should be big manly, sexy gods of love and lust. Not overweight babies).
And on the note of falseness we are brought to my principle objection. It’s meaningless, especially for those of us with SOs. This is not a day for romantic gestures. It is a day for MANDATORY gestures. No matter what I give beloved tomorrow it doesn’t say “I love you.” No, it says “society and the greetings card industry has demanded I do this. It has no feeling attached but please accept this grossly overpriced box of chocolates and a dinner reservation I had to make 4 months in advance.” If it’s mandatory it’s meaningless. The very best it can say is “I remembered this date!” Which is no achievement since it has been advertised to death since January. Oh, and it sticks in the craw that all these loving gestures have to pay over the odds because greetings card makers (which I hate anyway) restaurants, florists, confectioners and chocolatiers all jack their prices up through the roof. Can’t you just feel the love?
In my book, if you want a romantic gesture you do it at a completely neutral time. No holidays, no birthdays - just a normal day and you do something special for your beloved you wouldn't normally. THAT'S romance. THAT shows you care. That shows you think about them - and it shows YOU'RE thinking about them. Not the greetinsg card industry or the advertisers or even your calendar - just you
So yes, I hate this day.
Beloved wishes to have it known that he still wants shinies though.
I DO celebrate this day as a pagan day of fertility - because fertility festivals just BEG to be celebrated. This does not involve presents, cards or goey sentiment that makes you reach for the insulin. But it does involve singing, dancing partying and sex. Much better
Why do I, a non-single person, hate this day? First of all I hate it because it’s incredibly depressing for those who don’t have significant others. People have enough reasons to be depressed
Secondly, the holiday FEELS so fake to me. It may have been BASED on ancient pagan beliefs co-opted by Christians, but it’s still been commercially raped worse than any other holiday. Even Hallowe’en (Saimhain) and Christmas (Yule) have been spared this degree of violation. Frankly having an entire FAKE day to celebrate love sickens me a little. (I also pity poor Cupid and Eros. They should be big manly, sexy gods of love and lust. Not overweight babies).
And on the note of falseness we are brought to my principle objection. It’s meaningless, especially for those of us with SOs. This is not a day for romantic gestures. It is a day for MANDATORY gestures. No matter what I give beloved tomorrow it doesn’t say “I love you.” No, it says “society and the greetings card industry has demanded I do this. It has no feeling attached but please accept this grossly overpriced box of chocolates and a dinner reservation I had to make 4 months in advance.” If it’s mandatory it’s meaningless. The very best it can say is “I remembered this date!” Which is no achievement since it has been advertised to death since January. Oh, and it sticks in the craw that all these loving gestures have to pay over the odds because greetings card makers (which I hate anyway) restaurants, florists, confectioners and chocolatiers all jack their prices up through the roof. Can’t you just feel the love?
In my book, if you want a romantic gesture you do it at a completely neutral time. No holidays, no birthdays - just a normal day and you do something special for your beloved you wouldn't normally. THAT'S romance. THAT shows you care. That shows you think about them - and it shows YOU'RE thinking about them. Not the greetinsg card industry or the advertisers or even your calendar - just you
So yes, I hate this day.
Beloved wishes to have it known that he still wants shinies though.