Today, on this terrible so-called holiday, devoted to hearts and flowers and men giving things to ladies that are on average more expensive than the things ladies give to men, statistically speaking, I would like to relay a few words of hope to all the brave and noble Men Going Their Own Way, from our friend Spidey on MGTOWforums.com. Yes, it is true that “Valentines day is nothing more then another day where women have their egos inflated.” But remember this:
For every one of you that stays single, there is some b**** out there spending valentines day alone unable to force you to waste time and money on her
Stay strong, fellas. Resist the lure of the evil ladies and their never ending hunger for diamonds and chocolate and your precious seed.
Today, fellas, take a few moments to silently relaxate. Here, author Ronald Chevalier (who couldn’t possibly be Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords) illustrates how, without threatening your seed.
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Today is also National Organ Donor Day. Sign Up if you can.
It is also Arizona Statehood Day. I would make a joke about it but unfortunately two branches of the elected state government are jokes so…
I said this over at Feministe a while back, so this may sound repetitive, but:
I grew up with a mother that loves to invent traditions for most of the major holidays. The tradition for Valentine’s Day was that my parents would make puzzle hunts (the kind where you get a trail of clues, and each clue leads to the hiding place of the next one) for my brother and me, and we’d solve them and get chocolate and such. When we were really little, this was just drawings of the hiding places, then it was some simple words, and later it was rhyming couplets. So now, being a huge nerd, whenever I have an SO during Valentine’s Day, I make puzzle hunts. (This year, one of the clues will be in a blown-out egg in the fridge. Shhh.) I love this tradition because 1) the physical present is unimportant, so I only spend a couple of dollars and don’t feel like I’m being manipulated by capitalism, 2) it is both romantic and nerdy, which is the sweet spot, to me. Also, for years when I don’t have an SO, I get to think, “I’m saving myself a lot of time this year!” 😛
I was thinking I would make my man buy me a yacht. And then I’ll go back and exchange it for a different yacht, to shame him for not perfectly guessing what kind of yacht I would enjoy! Muahahahaha!
I actually like Valentine’s Day, single or with someone. It obviously gets overblown and silly, but I like seeing how my parents celebrate it: find something cute and small for one another, go have a nice (and, when we were younger, kid-free) evening at their favourite restaurant just appreciating the chance to be in one another’s company, wake up February 15 loving each other just as much. The one thing that always bugged my stepdad was finding the right card, because apparently a majority of “for my wife” cards include the basic message “I never say I love you, but now it’s Valentine’s Day, so I guess I will.” That definitely doesn’t define their relationship.
The last time I had a partner on Valentine’s Day was 2 years ago, and it’s the day when my ex’s manipulation and attempts at control really got started. His chief props were the expensive gifts that he chose to buy me. So I’m glad me and my boyfriend aren’t exchanging gifts. Our big romantic gesture (this being out first Valentine’s together) is going away for the weekend, something we love to do but I can only afford to do very occasionally, so why not this weekend instead of some other?
Even though my husband and I aren’t really that big on V-day, word. We usually save doing something special for his birthday, which is in a couple weeks.
And I also appreciate people who subvert the heteronormative and transactional “Man Gives Woman Expensive Gifts in Exchange for Affection.” narrative.
I only celebrate two holidays. Halloween and (unofficial) Hypatia of Alexandria day on March 15th.
Diamonds are overrated. Cut flowers die (just give me a nice potted plant) and I’m so picky about my chocolate, I’d as soon say don’t bother.
I don’t think of myself as a big Valentine’s Day fan, but claret and truffles seem to have found their way onto my table…
Basically, commercialized or not, I’m not going to turn down an opportunity to do something special with my husband. Last year I turned myself into a human valentine by decorating myself with frosting and candy.
Speaking of potted plants, I found these cute little Valentine’s Day flower pots – where there are seeds and instructions to grow either strawberries or forget-me-nots.
I don’t know if this is common, but I’ve never seen such a Valentine’s gift before. They were a dollar each, so I bought five >_> and will probably buy more just for myself after all the V-day stuff gets marked down.
They’re so cute!
Since we’re both homebodies, avoiding Obligation Day is a piece of cake.
(BTW, you all need to read Oglaf. Which is NSFW)
http://www.oglaf.com/obligationday/
I like roses. Rose is the middle name I was born with, and my parents always used to give me roses on Valentine’s Day and when I did something awesome (like opening night of a play I was in, or when I won an award for a short story). So to me being given roses means “I love you” and, way more importantly to me, “I approve of you.”
Also, LOVE IS A SANDWICH. http://captainawkward.com/2012/02/13/190-the-sandwich-means-i-love-you-a-valentine/
I got roses for St. V’s day. I was pretty stoked as this was the first time. I know that I should be all disapproving of the commercialization of the day but alas, I am like Ozy, I like the mushy gushy stuff secretly.
I just wish I could get the flowers at work because well, that would be even BETTER.
I always celebrate Hypatia of Alexandria on June 27th, in sort of a “meditate that this came about” kind of way.
THAT IS ON MY BIRTHDAY?!!! AWESOME!
Whoops oh wait is that TODAY?!
… Our Valentine’s Day tradition is “what would you like to do tonight, dear?*” although I might pick up some Godiva in token of the day.
*The response today is likely to be “snuggle up and listen to it rain.”
Isn’t March 15 Stab Julius Day?
Is it June 27th? I was told it was March 15th.
This is an example of the kind of Valentine I like:
http://imgur.com/N2R4L
Spidey also said
That’s bullshit. I personally asked for a cubic zirconia engagement ring, because I despise De Beers. Nobody knows the difference looking at my ring, but I’m not ashamed to tell anyone it’s not a diamond. I had one relative make a snarky remark about my ring, but most people don’t care. If MGTOW want to rant about conflict diamonds, then I’m with them on that. They just need to stop generalizing and claim that all women prefer diamonds over CZ.
Cuz them mammoths didn’t hunt themselves, amirite?
June 27th is feast day of the man that had her tortured to death, the Pillar of Faith, Church Father, Bishop, Patriarch, Confessor and Doctor of the Church; Blessed Cyril of Alexandria. I try to be understanding of people afflicted with religion, I try to see them as wounded comrades, but the veneration of Cyril sticks in my craw, to put it mildly.
Kendra – I love cubic zirconias! They’re cheap and they have more fire and sparkle than a diamond! I don’t think their cheapness is a drawback; I think it’s a triumph of technology.
I also love jewelry made from obscure rock-geek minerals. Screw diamonds, I like zoisite and iolite and rutilated quartz and fossil rock and unusual varieties of agate! They’re fair-market-priced (which in many cases means pretty much cheap as rocks) and they don’t fund anyone’s monopoly or civil war.
*is now glum that her birthday sucks*
I prefer emeralds to diamonds. Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen.
I got my girlfriend a plush wolf for Lupercalia yesterday, and my boyfriend a PS3 game he’s been wanting for Because It Was On Sale Day on Monday.
My schedule’s pretty packed with random bequeathing of love-tokens, actually, despite my stubborn refusal to acknowledge the existence of the ides of February as anything other than the day before Half-Price Chocolate Day (the holiday that comes four times a year!).
Kyn – Half-Price Chocolate Day would be February 15th and November 1st, clearly.
But now it’s bugging me: what are the other two? December 26th and whenever comes after Easter?
January 1st and July 5th are Half-Price Fireworks Days, too! 🙂
A little trickier though because it’s not really socially acceptable to set off fireworks in a populated area on random days.