UD Students’ Opinions on Valentine’s Day
(“Peanuts” comic by Charles M. Schulz, courtesy of the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s verified Instagram account @schulzmuseum)
James Tong | Opinions Editor
Love was in the air in February again this year, but Valentine’s Day isn’t everyone’s favorite holiday for a number of reasons. The holiday has always been a polarizing one for people, whether they just don’t have a partner to celebrate with, despise the colors or something else, it’s been a topic of discussion for quite some time. Flyer News went and asked students their thoughts and opinions about Valentine’s Day, here’s what some of them said.
“I think it can be a fun holiday if you have someone to spend it with,” said junior, Gabe Ward. “But overall, it’s just a commercial holiday used to make money. I think [Valentine’s Day] has good intentions behind it, but just like so many other holidays nowadays, it’s become so commercialized.”
Ward’s statement is one that many others agreed with, the trend of this however was that the opinion was shared mainly amongst the men, not the women. In fact, over half of the men said something similar to Ward’s statement.
“Traditionally, it’s on the guy to get all the gifts and whatnot. I think that just puts unnecessary pressure on us as men to make it a holiday worthwhile,” said another male student. “I mean, you look at the commercials, and from what I see, they’re aimed more towards the male audience. But that’s just what I see and think, I could very well be wrong.”
Senior, Elaine Nickerson, agrees with the two, emphasizing that the monetary value has taken over the true meaning of the holiday.
“Valentine’s Day should be about love and being with others, yet it’s more about the monetary value,” said Nickerson. “Getting gifts, buying expensive gifts and chocolates, people are pressured to show affection through these material things. Businesses capitalize on that idea of consumerism. I just don’t think that needs to be a big deal with fancy dinner plans and expensive items.”
After talking to more people, Nickerson and Ward’s voices were great reflections of what everyone stated. There wasn’t a single person that was fond of the holiday, for both sides, yet the reasons differed.
“I just don’t like the colors,” a female sophomore said. “It’s too much red and pink that are used for everything we see. I think everything I saw in a store was basically either red or pink, it’s too much.”
Another female student claimed, “I feel like you just see so many people find it as an excuse to show off your boyfriend or girlfriend. I’m sorry, but it’s annoying and I don’t think that many people actually care who you’re seeing.”
The overwhelming dislike for the holiday is something that was more surprising than what was anticipated. Honestly, there was expected to be a few people that liked the holiday, but of the students interviewed, not one was in favor of the holiday.