Victory, Valentine, Vagina

I have mixed feelings surrounding Valentine’s Day. I hate how commercialized it is. I would much rather my boyfriend do something sweet on random days throughout the year instead of feeling forced to buy me flowers and jewelry on a day filled with pink hearts and naked archers. I would rather go have a nice dinner when we both need a pick-me-up or want to celebrate the end of a semester or whatever the event may be then be obligated to dress up and pay more money than usual for some Valentine dinner special. All the restaurants and cute stores capitalize on these required actions – restaurants refuse normal specials and discounts and create special menus because everyone wants to go out, and they want it to be special. Catalogs display everything in pink and red, and suddenly everything comes with a heart on it. While most holidays have become centered on consumerism, Valentine’s Day is only about the commercial aspect.

One thing I do enjoy is V-day, wherein the V stands for Victory, Valentine, and Vagina. V-Day is a global movement to end violence against girls and women. For the past few years I have attended Eve Ensler's play, "The Vagina Monologues." I LOVE this play and hope to continue watching in annually. The monologues are made up of stories Eve gained from interviews of about 200 women and relate somehow to the vagina whether it is through sex, birth, periods, etc. The monologues range from serious tales about the Comfort Women of Japan which was featured the first year I saw it, to entertaining accounts like “My Angry Vagina” where a woman yells about the trauma from tampons and “duck lips.”


The other thing I like about Valentine’s Day is the way it makes you think about the people you love. After years together it is easy to take your partner for granted and this holiday brings your attention back to why you became a couple in the first place, and what has kept you together. That’s always nice!


On the flipside, if you do not have a partner by the time this holiday rolls around, you feel somehow inferior and unloved. What a horrible sentiment for a holiday to arise. Just because you are single you end up feeling depressed because you have nobody to spend this day with, because this day does not stress the love you have for family and friends, but only for your “soul mate.” This may drive you to find some schmuck at the last minute, stay in an unhappy relationship, or to spend the night with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, but rare is the person who is not bothered by being single during Cupid’s celebration.