Societal pressure to celebrate Valentine’s Day has caused the holiday to lose its significance. Culminating in elaborate displays (pictured above), the holiday’s importance has been seriously exaggerated (Mike Mozart/Creative commons).
Every year on Valentine’s Day, people everywhere scramble to buy gifts for their significant other, find someone to celebrate with or spend money to drink through it. This need to make Valentine’s Day “perfect” is overrated and comes from what the media constantly portrays as an ideal relationship, simply to drag more money into the wallets of huge corporations.
In reality, people in relationships should show their significant other that they love them every day, not only on this one day. For example, if someone wants to buy their significant other flowers, they should buy those flowers on any of the other 364 days of the year instead of choosing this one generic day.
These societal norms have been here for years and don’t seem to be going anywhere. The average American will spend $143.56 this year, following last year’s average of $136.57 and 2016’s recording of $146.84, according to Forbes magazine. These statistics show that Valentine’s Day spending is part of our culture and can’t be easily eradicated. Change needs to start somewhere since the day causes more stress and loss than it does love.
Of course, not all people only use this day to show their significant other that they love them; there are plenty of couples that do acts of kindness every day for each other. There is still, however, the overwhelming majority that don’t do much until the “big day.”
The National Retail Federation claims that though the people that are buying gifts for Valentine’s Day are spending more than they used to, “only 51 percent of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday, down from 55 percent last year and a high of 63 percent in 2007.” The number of people participating in the holiday is decreasing and many studies point to the idea that one day dedicated to love is unnecessary when there are so many other days in the year.
There are reasons why people in happy relationships don’t need to celebrate Valentine’s Day, including not wanting to force romance and the idea that spontaneous romance is much more appealing, according to Bustle.
For those who do celebrate Valentine’s Day with their partner or for those who want to celebrate it, there is an immense amount of pressure to do it right. This feeling has a lot to do with society’s common understanding that people should be with someone and be in love.
In actuality, Valentine’s Day is really just an excuse for corporations to make as much money as they can by feeding on the self-consciousness people have about their relationships or lack thereof.
This stress that society puts on every individual is not worth what comes out of the holiday. Therefore, if everyone makes an effort to end the traditions of flowers and chocolates on this one day, the world will be a happier, chocolate-and-loved-filled place.