Saturday, February 14, 2004

Happy Valentine's Day...

People seem to enjoy complaining that Valentine's Day is just a made-up holiday for the greeting card companies, florists, and chocolate makers. Maybe it is, but aren't there far worse excuses for a made up holiday than love?

Valentine's Day is being hijacked by groups whose messages are at best wholly unrelated to the spirit of the day and more commonly are completely opposite it. One group is taking the opportunity of the holiday to post billboards reading "Give her a real present this Valentine's Day: stop looking at porn." Abstinence-only sex education proponents declared the last school day before Valentine's Day "Purity Day" and encouraged teenagers to wear white t-shirts to proclaim their vow to not have sex before marriage. Even the government has gotten in on the co-opting of Valentine's Day, declaring February National Heart Month to raise awareness of coronary diseases while everyone is getting heart-shaped gifts.

And for those of you feeling pressured or put upon because you are not in a couple: this is what the time between Thanksgiving and mid-January is like for those of us who don't celebrate Christmas.

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