VALENTINE’S GOOD TIMES
by Tom Hussey
I’ve never been an overtly obvious guy and thus I’m a great believer in the subtle expression of love. So the idea of a whole day devoted to an outright explosion of affection should be something I scorn at. Yet, it seems to me that Valentines can be surprisingly beneficial and this is for a few reasons.
We are endlessly distracted by the torrid state of the world, so much so that we often lose sight of what is really important and that is to love and be loved. As a politics student, I probably should be to blame for perpetuating this end is nigh-esque rhetoric which seemingly seems to plague much of our outlook in life.
Nevertheless, I believe that Valentine’s Day (regardless of the level of cringe it reliably delivers each year) serves as an outlet to express love and affection toward one another. Whether that expression manifests itself in an enormous, overpriced teddy bear from Clintons or a simple note, it doesn’t matter. Valentine’s Day gives people the opportunity to show love and acts as a reminder that we are all loved by someone, so surely we should be praising that. It’s a distraction which can be surprisingly medicinal and above all, it makes you feel good and can be very grounding.
Look at Valentine’s Day like Flares; a bit cheesy, slightly cringey and all a bit predictable - but embrace it nonetheless, because to be quite honest, it’s great to feel the love.
MONEY LOVE
by Sophie Chapman
St. Valentine’s Day, February 14th, or simply Valentine’s - whatever you call it is irrelevant because the fact remains it’s a made-up holiday.
Sure, Saint Valentine may have been some kind of hero to the young lovers of the Roman era, but nowhere did he stipulate the unnecessary buying of flowers or exchanging of cards. In doing so, you’re not celebrating love but celebrating capitalism and its success in influencing cultural norms. Capitalists are constantly trying to create consumer desire for certain products, and what better way to do it than creating a whole new ‘festival of love’ in which society forces you to pay three times the going rate for a romantic meal with your love (that is if you can find a restaurant that’s not fully booked).
Seriously, what are you trying to achieve by sending a Valentine’s Day card with the same mass-produced message received by thousands of people across the country and perfectly crafted by someone employed by Card Factory? It loses some of its charm when you think about it. And even if you’re not thinking about buying a card for that special someone, the mere existence of the day has you questioning why not.
This is not to say love doesn’t exist. But, isn’t there some better way to celebrate it? How about the other 364 days a year when you’re not culturally obliged to become some overly romantic sap?
LOVE IS IRRELEVANT
by Amanda Yap
Love today is vastly different from love during our grandparents’ or even parents’ time.
What happened to those days of writing handwritten letters and lasting promises of growing old and frail together? These days a perfunctory text is all it takes to break off a relationship. All the pomp and fanfare on Valentine’s Day is all beginning to look like a façade to divert attention from the important crux of the matter which is: Has lust been mistaken for love? We are all visual creatures, often blinded by attractive looks and good fun. Eliminating these factors, are we confident enough to stick by that once-vivacious SO till death do us part?
Love is the most private and intimate connection between two people but we have use the yearly Valentine’s Day as a convenient way to loudly and publicly proclaim our love in one shot instead of demonstrating small acts of love daily. It’s just takes too much of an effort. Call me a prudish cynic, but meaningless sex is rampant in the media and real life which makes once-hopefuls like me lose confidence in love. Perhaps we are all tired of being taken advantage of, false signals and utterly sick of not getting our once-innocent feelings reciprocated that’s why we are unconsciously resistant to the idea of making the effort to sustain something that might just fail eventually. I think we need to build that undying patience to stick around for the good parts, it will pay off eventually.