Valentine’s Day, also known as the day of love, is one that has mixed feelings. Some people enjoy the holiday as they buy candies and flowers for their loved ones, while others dislike the holiday and can be one that is dreaded each year.
Shopping for Valentine’s Day themed candy and pastries are one of graduate student Jordan Terry’s favorite things about the holiday.
“I love Valentine’s Day because I feel like it gives me a chance to express to not just a loved one, but also to my friends, how much I love them,” Terry said.
Starting in January, stores can be found with aisles filled with Valentine’s Day gifts that are to be given to loved ones.
Some people do not look forward to Valentine’s Day because they are alone while their friends and family are spending time with their significant others, however, some people do not favor the holiday because of the capitalistic component.
According to CNBC’s Kamaron McNair, he shares that it is predicted that 57% of money will be spent on candy, 40% on gift cards, 37% on flowers and 21% on jewelry.
“I do understand why some people don’t like it though, capitalism tends to ruin a lot of holidays, but I personally still really love to celebrate Valentine’s Day.”
Stephanie Martin, a graduate student in the English department states that she does not like the pressure that Valentine’s Day places on having to spend money to demonstrate love to her partner.
“Valentine’s Day is a capitalistic construct designed to make me prove my love to my partner via monetary gifts,” Martin said. “I should not need to be given a predetermined date to demonstrate my love, nor should there be pressure placed to spend money to prove love.”
Instead of spending money on significant others or feeling pressured to celebrate Valentine’s Day, there are other ways that one can show their love throughout the year.
“We don’t celebrate as much as we just choose to spend intentional time together, though it is difficult to do anything without spending money,” Martin said.
“We avoid doing elaborate gifts and instead we try to do something that lets us spend time together. That always looks different depending on our mood, but sometimes it’s going out to play Pokémon, picking out a movie to watch, grabbing sushi from our favorite place or cooking together.
For those who do not want to participate in the cliché Valentine’s Day activities like spending a lot of money on teddy bears, candy and dinners, couples or friends can celebrate the holiday by doing things that they enjoy.
“I don’t necessarily think that gift giving is bad, but I find the gifts marketed around Valentine’s Day to be distasteful,” Martin said. “The whole thing feels staged and like you have predetermined gifts you ‘should’ buy each other. I think, at the very least, if gifts are going to be exchanged that they should be relevant to your partner’s likes.”
