By Georgie Flynn | Student Columnist
As Valentine’s Day approaches, dark clouds loom over the heads of those who hate the holiday that was more or less created by Hallmark. Men in particular seem to really detest the day. After all, love should be about more than candy, gifts, flowers and jewelry.
It’s all just another reason to spend money on decorations and gifts and a sizeable amount of those gifts might ultimately end up in the trash one way or another. All the excuses for essentially throwing away pay checks, the superficial reasoning behind the décor and wilting roses just goes to show not only why men hate the day, but why Valentine’s Day really is a terrible date on the calendar.
If you are a single man, there is a good chance this holiday season you will be moping. Valentine’s Day is just rubbing in your face how alone you are. All the commercials showing people having fun and being in love can put any single man down in the dumps. He lacks a loving significant other and more than likely doesn’t want to do anything with anyone else.
Most single men turn off the television for the first half of February and stay away from Facebook, which has appearances of all the happy, suddenly engaged couples. The only things we can really do are stay in and play Call of Duty, or attempt to sleep through this heart-filled time of the year.
If you are a man in a happy relationship, chances are you hate this holiday as much as the single man. The pressure of purchasing the perfect gifts and making the day memorable could make any man quiver and crack under the supposed loving holiday. The entire gift giving and romancing can be a little overwhelming and exhausting.
Many times, the man doesn’t receive much in return. Sure, he may get a card and some candy, but Valentine’s Day is commercialized in a way that makes women the main focus and men receive the short-end of the stick.
And for the record, the decorations are a little bit over the top.
All the hearts and lace and streamers are hanging in every restaurant and shop before most people have their Christmas trees down. The only colors chosen for the event are red and pink, which can give any person a headache. Year after year the decorations get more and more eccentric. Before you know it, you’ll be stuffing our turkey with hearts and cupids next to your cranberry sauce in the store.
Having the knowledge that commercialization created a holiday that is so ridiculous and has the power to make people purchase and create ridiculous decorations is mindboggling. Some men, and women, can’t handle the insanity of a holiday that keeps this naïve society buying into it every year.
The spending is another issue which no man should have to endure. If you pull out your calculator and do the math of how much money goes into all the gifts: a box of chocolates, dinner reservations, movie tickets, flowers, stuffed animal, a piece of jewelry, etc. – you will see you wasted more than an entire paycheck on an entire day.
According to an NBC article, it was predicted for men in 2012 they would “spend an average of $168.74.” As a college student working a part-time job, that is almost my entire bi-weekly paycheck. Personally, I can’t afford an adequately romantic Valentine’s Day and I really don’t want to anyways.
How is the romantic valentine expected to pay rent this month? The materialism of this holiday is atrocious. The holiday is supposed to celebrate love, not how much money you can spend on your significant other. It is not a competition.
Valentine’s Day gift options are typically hover between cheesy and clichéd and absolutely nauseating. Hallmark cards are the worst. The cards offered are all the same. Every design includes pink and red, flowers and hearts. And they always mention “Love.”
As a man, I know I like options. I mean, what if you don’t love the person. You can’t cross it out and write “like.” That would be absurd. In my mind, why would someone want flowers when they will die in two weeks anyway? And some don’t need, let alone want, another stuffed animal with a cheesy saying relating to romance. No one needs any of these items.
This holiday is allegedly about love, but why do we need a holiday about romantic love? There are better days, like anniversaries or, you know, every other day of the year, to celebrate the love you feel for that special someone.
If you don’t like Valentine’s Day, don’t celebrate it with flattering gifts for your girls or boys. You might end up in the doghouse or at a quick end in your relationship. No one is holding a gun to your head, not even Hallmark, to be a romantic and wasteful Joe Smoe on Valentine’s Day.
It’s okay to dislike this holiday, too. For whatever reasons you have, it is probably a good outlook on this silly day. Valentine’s Day is just a day to celebrate love by indulging in some good ol’ consumerism anyway. Dodge cupid’s arrow and go elsewhere.
Georgie Flynn is a junior English and print journalism major and can be reached at flynng@duq.edu.
