Valentine’s Day. For single girls, it largely involves complaining about romance, a point blank avoidance of card shops and the essential drinks plans to dodge the alone-on-Valentine’s-night stigma. For the newly-coupled, the day brings the initial dilemma of whether to celebrate it – do two drinks and a meal even count as a relationship? Following this is a stressful afternoon in Hallmarks, when you discover that in the midst of the heavy ‘you’re the beat of my heart’ cards, there aren’t any along the lines of ‘I think you’re cool’. For the long-term couples, it becomes an expensive mess to prove love through presents and clichés, and this is really where the whole event stumbles.
Valentine’s Day has become a competition, and what do women want? We want to win. Some women want an expensive meal, a bouquet of roses and everything short of a banner saying ‘Hooray! I’m not single!’ Others will settle for anything in reality, providing that on Facebook there’s a gushing status and a nuzzling profile picture, just to prove to other couples, ex-boyfriends and your entire friends list how in love you are. It’s almost become a competition for single girls too. Despite being perfectly content for the other 364 days of the year, the February 14 inspires the need to look better, dance better and prove that you’re happier than everyone else at being single.
So guys, if you dare to participate in the Valentine’s Day Olympics, you have been warned – girls are in it to win. For me though, please, no heart shapes and no pink teddy bears. If anything, I want a simple, “you look nice” and for the day to be over. Now, who’s looking forward to Easter?
