Let people celebrate it if they want to
By Jessica Berget, Opinions Editor
A lot of people love to hate on Valentine’s Day. Yes, you could say it’s a fake, expensive, capitalist holiday promoted only to make money. You can argue that it’s superfluous because you should be showing love and affection to your significant other every other day of the year. We hear all of this anti-Valentine rhetoric every time February rolls around, and I don’t disagree with it.
However, we shouldn’t disparage this holiday too much. Some people genuinely enjoy celebrating this “Hallmark holiday”—and if they want to engage with their partners on a day dedicated to love and hearts, let them enjoy it and don’t demean them for it.
If you ask me, there are actually a lot of reasons to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s an excuse to stay in or go out with your loved one, give each other gifts, make a fancy dinner, get drunk, or even just spend some time together. Or, if you don’t have a partner to celebrate it with, who cares? You can have a great time on your own by treating yourself. Get a nice dinner, have a luxurious bath with a face mask, or masturbate for two hours and then eat a pizza—doesn’t that sound romantic? Alternately, you could celebrate it the day after by buying 50-percent-off Valentine’s Day chocolates. There’s nothing bad about having a day committed to love and romance whether you have a partner or not, so there shouldn’t be so much hatred for a day dedicated to love.
Honestly, it’s a cute, harmless holiday. Remember how fun it was in elementary school to give and receive Valentine’s Day cards and candies from all of your classmates? I get the reservations about forced romance and how expensive it might be for some people, but it’s not so bad having a day where everything is either pink, red, or covered in hearts and filled with candy.
You probably don’t even really hate this holiday, just the stereotypical depictions of love. Roses, chocolates, and wine can come off as quite cheesy to me, but there are other ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day without all the bells and whistles. I think it’s great to just have a day where you can spend time with people you love, even if it’s just for yourself.
It’s okay to hate the holiday but if you come down on it too hard, it ruins the fun for other people—and even for yourself because you won’t allow yourself to have fun. You don’t have to demean a holiday that many people enjoy just because you don’t personally care for it. Whether you think there’s reason to celebrate it or not, it’s a day that comes every year, so you might as well find a reason to enjoy it.
