Not really. I have more than a few friends who would rather celebrate such things on their anniversaries or on some other day that holds importance to their relationship.. It's wonderful to celebrate that intimate bond when you have it, but I've always felt that it was a deeply personal thing, and such celebrations should be unique to the people involved. Forcing a public celebration of such a deeply personal thing, quite frankly, cheapens the intimacy and belittles those that don't have it themselves. Why should I be 'forced' in a societal sense to celebrate something I have no business celebrating: the relationships of others?
The 'holiday' fills far too many people with dread, as you rightly point out. Those who are in relationships fear not being able to "prove" their feelings by spending enough money, or buying the right colored flowers. Those that are not in relationships wind up feeling oppressed and belittled by the whole spectacle. However, most of society has bought into the current diseased incarnation of the celebration, and those of us that object are simply screaming at the wall. Frankly I have the same problems with Christmas, and refuse to celebrate it for similar reasons.
We do approach these things differently, however, and I can appreciate your more earthy view in some ways, even if I don't share your conclusions. If people could find a way to take it back, make the holiday more personal and exorcise the horrible cancer it suffers from, then more power to you. Until such a thing happens, however, and I honestly feel that it won't, I will remain in favor of the scorched earth policy: raze it to the ground and get this blighted "celebration" out of my sight.
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Date: 2010-02-14 07:54 pm (UTC)The 'holiday' fills far too many people with dread, as you rightly point out. Those who are in relationships fear not being able to "prove" their feelings by spending enough money, or buying the right colored flowers. Those that are not in relationships wind up feeling oppressed and belittled by the whole spectacle. However, most of society has bought into the current diseased incarnation of the celebration, and those of us that object are simply screaming at the wall. Frankly I have the same problems with Christmas, and refuse to celebrate it for similar reasons.
We do approach these things differently, however, and I can appreciate your more earthy view in some ways, even if I don't share your conclusions. If people could find a way to take it back, make the holiday more personal and exorcise the horrible cancer it suffers from, then more power to you. Until such a thing happens, however, and I honestly feel that it won't, I will remain in favor of the scorched earth policy: raze it to the ground and get this blighted "celebration" out of my sight.