February 14th. Each years million girls get excited to spend this day with their crushes/boyfriends/husbands in the most romantic ways possible. But why do we focus on the material love on this day?
No one can pin point the exact origin of Valentines Day. Some say its from a Saint Valentine (however, the Catholic church gives credit to three different Saint Valentines) and others say it was an ancient Roman celebration, called Lupercalia. During these times, no one focused on the extravagant gits people gave to each other, just fancy dinners and celebrations with their loved ones.
In today's tradition of Valentines Day, our society seems to demand gifts and physical items from each other to show the level of our love, especially from boys. Chocolates, flowers, cards, teddy bears, jewelry and so much more are expected as tokens of love. What happened to just enjoying the life you have with each other? A true loving relationship doesn't need gifts of any kind to assure one's love for another. Instead, simply spending time together (not necessarily money) and enjoying each other's company should be what this holiday is about.
Another problem with this holiday, is how gender controlled it seems. Sure, the girl can buy the boy gifts if she chooses, but it is looked at as worse if the boy does not purchase a gift for the girl. This in fact, is a modern tradition. This idea did not come from any of the historical origins of the holiday. Although in the eyes of today's society, men are expected to be more masculine and always take care of the woman in the relationship, but whose to say the woman can't take care of herself, or for the man for that matter.
We all need to stop spending so much money on Valentines Day gifts. The only people who are really benefiting from all of this are company's like Hallmark and Hershey's. To be truly happy this Valentines Day, don't focus on the material gifts, focus on the connection you have with your valentine and appreciate the love and time you're spending with each other.
