Some people disagree, it seems. Consider this article (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/11/martin.valentine/index.html) for the other side of the coin. I notice that lunacy_gal also does not like this holiday (http://lunacy-gal.livejournal.com/25752.html) too much. [I'm relieved she chose to live and let live, however.]
Personally, I believe that criticism of the commercial side could be done for a *lot* of holidays, including this one as well as Christmas. It shouldn't harm the ability to enjoy anyway. [I enjoy Christmas in spite of the commercialism, not because of it. When commercialism impinges on the part I do enjoy (Jingle Bells, anyone?), I get annoyed.] That probably covers my feelings about this holiday too -- I may not mark it as much, but any celebration I would do is in spite of the importuning merchants.
Huh? Does that guy know what he's talking about? He lost any credibility he might have when he said, "Valentine's Day is not built around a religious event like Christmas or Easter." Ex-cuuse me, but who does he think St. Valentine was? Any saint's day is a 'religous event'.
Not that I want to consider it such: I prefer to think of it as part of an old pagan tradition.
I don't buy valentines, I don't buy into the hype, and no one needs to do that to celebrate a holiday of love.
Nor do we need to believe it's a holiday of patriarchal, heterosexist, monogamist, monotheist tradition if we don't want to.
I like making holidays into what I want them to be.
Sounds a little like sour grapes to me. Yes, we should treat our loved ones well all the time. It would be a better world if we did. But the limitations of the day - the commercialism and so on, the emphasis on traditional love - are only as significant as you let them be.
I think it's stupid to blame commercialism on holidays. Our world is commercial. People turn a blind eye until a holiday comes up, and then they say: "Oh no! Christmas is being corrupted by commercialism!"
That isn't it. It's a commercial world. Usually we expect that. You can't expect it to stop, or change its spots, just when a holiday comes up.
You can accept commercialism or not, as you wish. But we don't just become commercialized on special days. It's there all the time.
In my opinion, the holiday is the good side of the equation. It's the rest of it that should be changed.
This is true of many of us. I managed not to be any more annoyed by commercialism at Christmas (or Valentine's Day) than any other day of the year.
Sometimes I have to bite my tongue to keep myself from ranting about the absurdities of our society. I don't want to come across as sounding like a crackpot.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 06:05 am (UTC)Personally, I believe that criticism of the commercial side could be done for a *lot* of holidays, including this one as well as Christmas. It shouldn't harm the ability to enjoy anyway. [I enjoy Christmas in spite of the commercialism, not because of it. When commercialism impinges on the part I do enjoy (Jingle Bells, anyone?), I get annoyed.] That probably covers my feelings about this holiday too -- I may not mark it as much, but any celebration I would do is in spite of the importuning merchants.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 02:10 pm (UTC)There are days when it works very well for me, although I suspect that I cannot afford to hold it in too much disdain.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 06:25 pm (UTC)Not that I want to consider it such: I prefer to think of it as part of an old pagan tradition.
I don't buy valentines, I don't buy into the hype, and no one needs to do that to celebrate a holiday of love.
Nor do we need to believe it's a holiday of patriarchal, heterosexist, monogamist, monotheist tradition if we don't want to.
I like making holidays into what I want them to be.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 06:27 pm (UTC)Sounds a little like sour grapes to me. Yes, we should treat our loved ones well all the time. It would be a better world if we did. But the limitations of the day - the commercialism and so on, the emphasis on traditional love - are only as significant as you let them be.
Quaint categories?
no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 06:39 pm (UTC)That isn't it. It's a commercial world. Usually we expect that. You can't expect it to stop, or change its spots, just when a holiday comes up.
You can accept commercialism or not, as you wish. But we don't just become commercialized on special days. It's there all the time.
In my opinion, the holiday is the good side of the equation. It's the rest of it that should be changed.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-16 01:00 am (UTC)Sometimes I have to bite my tongue to keep myself from ranting about the absurdities of our society. I don't want to come across as sounding like a crackpot.