Valentine’s Day

February 14th, more famously known as Valentine’s Day, has been marked as the sacred day of love for as long as anyone can remember. It is a day for couples to shower each other with gifts like chocolates, flowers, and other cards. This holiday is not only celebrated in the U.S but also Canada, France, and Japan. Countless traditions have sprung up alongside this holiday of love, such as exchanging cards among classmates. What else is there to know about this day of love?

The origin of how Valentine’s Day came to be is clouded with myths and legends. What is known for sure is the fact that a saint by the name of Valentine/Valentinus did exist at one point in history. One legend tells the heroic story of Bishop Valentine during a time in Rome when the marriage of young men was banned. Feeling a deep sense of unfairness stirring in his heart, Valentine defied that law and continued to perform the marriage of young couples. This daring tale paints Valentine as a romantic figure- a person who defied everything for the sake of love. Another popular legend suggests that Valentine was sent to jail for breaking the laws, and in jail, was charmed by the jailer’s own daughter. He ended up falling head over heels in love with her and wrote a letter, signed off with the lovely words, “From Your Valentine.” This phrase that was supposedly uttered more than a thousand years ago is still a popular expression today.

Valentine’s Day is every card-making company’s favorite day, just after Christmas. Approximately 150 million cards (not including Valentine’s Day card packets used for exchanging cards in classrooms) are exchanged every year in the U.S to be given to people’s loved ones. Retail statistics suggests that at least three percent of the cards will be given to the pets of the buyers. It shows that even pets are included into this tradition.

Not everyone is feeling the love for this day though. As much as there are people who love Valentine’s Day, there are plenty of haters also. A lot of the hate surrounding Valentine’s Day has to do with its materialistic traditions of expressing love. A list of top searched words from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com’s on V-Day provides us with some interesting results.

From Dictionary.com, just a few of the top ten words are “expenditure,” “shallow,” “nuisance,” and “buffoon.” Similarly from Thesaurus.com, “nuisance,” “mockery,” and “blasphemous” pops up in the top ten. Is this just a coincidence, or does it show something about what people think about V-Day?

“I don’t like it but I don’t hate it,” said 8th grader Davina Le of Valentine’s Day. “But I’m more on the good side of it because FREE CANDY!”

Le isn’t the only one who is a fan of the holiday because of the sweets. “I only like the free candy. That’s it,” said 8th grader Meryl Jiang.

The U.S is not the only country that celebrates this holiday. Other countries around the world also celebrate this holiday, but with their own quirks added. In Japan, Valentine’s Day is a day of chocolate. Interestingly, it’s a “her to him” type of day. The girls give their male counterparts chocolate. They can choose to give the “Giri Choco” (which signifies no feelings) or the “Honmei Choco” (which represents a more intimate relationship). It doesn’t stop there though. When “White Day” rolls around on March 14th, the men have to return the favor like their female counterparts did a month ago.

In Argentina, a whole week dedicated to sweets is observed July 13th-20th. It is a time for lovers and friends to trade sweets and kisses. 

Valentine’s Day is surely a part of American culture, and it is hard to imagine a February 14th where the aisles of supermarkets aren’t stocked full with teddy bears, sweets, and flowers. It is even harder to imagine a day after Valentine’s Day when people aren’t flocking to stores for the half-price chocolate. Whether or not this holiday is really “meaningful” or not, there is no denying it has already made a strong mark on our culture.