Commercial and exploitive for singles and couples alike

Why Valentine’s Day is horrible

By Cazzy Lewchuk, Staff Writer

Every year, chocolates, flowers, and heart-shaped everything come out at the earliest opportunity. The restaurants have their specials, the radio stations play even more love songs, and there’s a general feeling of love in the air. It’s Valentine’s season, a time to really make your romantic partner feel special. Singles every year lament its existence by drinking wine and complaining on Facebook (don’t be that guy).

This holiday isn’t just horrible for those who don’t have someone to celebrate with. For many couples, Valentine’s Day can be a time of pressure, stress, or even anger. There’s huge pressure on those who are in relationships during the season, since a person’s devotion to their significant other is measured by the present or surprise that they gave them.

This is especially problematic for inexperienced or new couples. Someone who has never been in a relationship during Valentine’s Day may be very unclear about what to do and what the other expects. Similarly, one might not know what to expect or how to behave. It can be an awkward conversation to bring up: “What do you want for Valentine’s Day?” And I’m sure the holiday has led to many arguments and disappointments. This is also true if two people are at an awkward stage of dating. Maybe they aren’t exclusive yet or maybe they aren’t really sure what their relationship is. We’ve all been there at one point or another. Valentine’s Day creates that pressure to measure a relationship based on material acts and goods.

It’s a Hallmark holiday. It’s a holiday used by businesses to sell lots of chocolates, flowers, meals, and condoms. You should do something special for your romantic partner for the relationship’s own sake. You shouldn’t take them to dinner because of a day on the calendar; you should take them because you genuinely want to have a romantic evening.

As for singles, Valentine’s Day is a reminder that they are lonely. What’s more damaging is the societal pressure to have a date for Valentine’s Day. Dating should not be rushed. It only leads to damage later on. Desperately seeking someone to have dinner with or finding a last-minute hook-up on February 14 is, again, meaningless.

Dating is a serious thing that’s already hard enough. There’s no rulebook when it comes to relationships, every single one is different. Love should never be forced. Practice loving whoever it is you love whenever—not just on February 14. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around, every day of the year.