I won't even be as trite as to say "Happy Valentines Day", because this is an anti-Valentines day tirade. Although I guess it's ok to express your love to your partner/family in general, I think that it should be expressed 365 days of the year, not just on this one day. I'm opposed to Valentines day because it has turned into this huge industry that does 2 horrible things:
1. Commercializes love and giving, and results in a capitalist system using and abusing cultural symbols of love (roses, hearts, cupid)as commodities to be bought and sold.
2. Creates a gross gender dynamic within this whole capitalist bonanza by pressuring women to buy products focused on their bodies (implicitly suggesting that they do so for men - i.e. discount liposuction, makeup on sale, and the biggest seller - lingerie), and pressuring men to buy expensive gifts that are supposedly representative of their love, like expensive chocolates, roses, and diamonds. The end result is a reinforcement of antiquated gender stereotypes, where the more money a guy can spend, the easier access he has to a woman's body, which is made more presentable (better smelling, better clothes via sexy underwear) in anticipation.
And then the religious imposition of it all with St. Valentine, and the historical origins of this ridiculous ritual....and how it has been exported globally...erg. Do the research.
It's freaking me out - sorry for reading so much into it for you peoples who like Valentines day, but I just don't like being pressured to buy and sell love, and to put a price tag on how much someone feels about me. Speaking of which, let's not even get into how many couples will fight over not getting, or not getting a "good enough" Valentine today.
4 comments:
Side Note:
- I think that Valentine's Day is just a 'prompt' to express feelings for others; though less ideal than daily expression, it's hardly a bad thing
- Why does it matter that people make money helping facilitate this expression?
1. making money off people and their emotional vulnerability (ie. capitalist exploitation) is basically the epitome of evil.
2. someone i know hung up on her bf cuz he didn't say happy valentine's day.
3. someone else i know doesn't tell her bf she loves him (even tho she does) even on valentine's day.
4. so basically insofar as valentine's day has turned into a marketing holiday, i think its stupid and won't participate in it as such (except maybe to buy discounted candy the day after).
5. i think the gender thing is interesting, and i guess the marketting people target women specifically since you know, we're more emotional and stuff, and more likely to buy into stupid bullshit people try to sell us? plus girls like wearing pink.
6. again i say: be critical of everything. (my dad just told me marx has an essay called "For a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing" so it makes me feel cool).
:)
It just bothers me that V-day is targeted towards spending money in order to express love, and in so doing it inevitable equates love with money. It also bothers me because it has become an entire industry that encourages this kind of "money buys love" / "money = love behaviour".
It's true that Valentine's day is a 'prompt', and in that sense I dont have a problem with the actual feelings expressed on Valentine's day, I have a problem with the fact that it's not that simple - on this specific day, because of the growth of this industry, those feelings are attached to money and consumerism, thus treating love as a commodity to be bought and sold.
Finally as an afterthought it also bothers me that Valenines day is one of the biggest selling days for cut flowers and chocolate, which are both industries that are closely tied to child labour in Africa. :( .
In short I'm making the point that we have to be "critical" about the effects of our spending habits.
I won't hate people who like Valentine's day, this is just my own opinion - Terrence is lucky, there's no pressure on him, lol
haha JINX on posting at the same time :)
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