I wish I came up with the term “Hallmark Holiday,” but I haven’t been around for that long. I’m sure many people know what that means, but for those of you who don’t and are too lazy to search it on Wikipedia, let me put it conveniently here for you. “'Hallmark Holiday'" is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe a holiday that is perceived to exist primarily for commercial purposes, rather than to commemorate a traditionally or historically significant event."
Makes sense, right? And since Hallmark is a store known for its outrageously priced cards that sing and spit confetti at the receiver, and its little useless gifts that no one needs, it makes even more sense.
If you take a second, just one second, to think about what Valentine's Day really means, what would you say? Of course, we all know it’s a day to show your loved ones you actually love them, to shower your significant other in gifts, to transform your love into material objects. My question for you, Hallmark, is why do we need one specific day for this?
Shouldn’t we be doing this every day?
Unfortunately, no. As Western society has evolved, or regressed if you will, we like things. We like big houses and fancy cars to measure our successes instead of our actual achievements. We like to show off in front of others, make people jealous of what we have. And Valentine's Day is not an exception.
The expectations for Valentine's Day have changed, as have we. From celebrities influencing our every decision through social media, young women are expecting 100 red roses to show up at their door or a new Michael Kors watch from her boy toy who may not even be fully committed to her.
And this is just wrong! Half of the young men in relationships can’t afford that or even pay for dinner for that matter, making it worse for them to live up to unrealistic expectations. Whatever they do come up with for Valentine's day then isn’t good enough.
But wouldn’t you rather just spend the day together with someone you really loved instead of feeling the need to be like everyone else?
Nowadays, you can’t even make it through Valentine's day without at least having surrendered to a less expensive company than Hallmark by buying a card that your SO may keep on their desk for a few weeks before it’s thrown out for taking up space, and a box of chocolates. Nothing like chocolates to say, “I love you,” right?
And don’t get me started on the way the holiday works to manipulate people who aren’t in a relationship. Some people have such a need to conform that they’d rather go on a lousy date with someone they barely like instead of being alone on Valentine's day. To me, the last thing a holiday should be is a day to make people feel bad about themselves and feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing.
At least on Christmas, you get to spend time with family. Valentine's day is less about celebrating platonic love and more about romantic love, but why does it have to be that way?
Why does it have to be the way it is at all? Because America is a capitalist society and wants to take advantage of us any way they can as long as we let them--which will be forever if people continue to promote this Hallmark Holiday.
Think about what you’re really getting out of it. Does the diamond necklace he bought you or the Apple watch you bought him really tell you they love you or did you already know? Chances are you already knew that and didn’t really need to express it with gifts. But it’s Valentine's day, so it’s normal.
We should celebrate our love every day. How much more romantic would it be if, on May 26, you were surprised with a rose? Probably a lot because you aren’t expecting it. I agree it’s nice to be appreciated every once in a while, but how about we do it because we want to, not because some Hallmark Holiday is telling us we need to.
Where’s the romance in that?
