liv | Conflicted feelings (Reply)

Reasons to hate Valentine's Day:

It's ridiculous over-commercialized nonsense
It's a ploy to get people to spend money on junk they don't need
It makes people who don't have a partner feel miserable and inadequate
It's sexist and heterosexist
There's a really nasty set of assumptions behind the concept of men giving women cheap chocolate and expecting sex in return
You should express love for the people you love all year round
It's annoying, expensive and crowded to go out for a romantic evening at the same time as everybody else
It makes pair-bonding, sexual love more important than all other kinds
Anonymous messages lead to drama and DOOM
What she said, big time!

Reasons why VD has some redeeming features:

The awesome anti-valentines at meish.org
Friends who send me really touching friendship-valentine cards
mirabehn and others subverting the occasion to affirm people instead of cutting them down
My nosy side really enjoys the annual Valentine post-box

Reasons why I succumbed in spite of all those objections: I can't resist the prospect of spending a weekend with my Beau, and having the excuse to devote the whole time to being romantic. We've planned a random trip to Chester, and the VD weekend is convenient but I really couldn't say no to exploring a pretty, historic town and going out for a nice French meal. Sorry, VD haters, you're right and I'm wrong, but I was weak.