So today is valentines day and love is in the air? How many times have you heard that? Every year its the same thing, cards and candy for that special someone to make her feel that much more special. I ask do we do this to make her feel special or do we do it because its valentines day? Well im here to let you know its a scam! Seriously how many times throughout the year do we get our girlfriends or boyfriends flowers and cards and candy? Sure this day is to commemorate love and affection towards your companion but if your gonna show affection to that special someone in your life but you cant let only one day of the year to let her know you care. But lets talk about what valentines day is really about, st.valentine and the elusive cupid.
Legends differ about who exactly St. Valentine's Day is named after. It is a general consensus that the day honors a number of Valentines. One of these, St. Valentine of Rome, was a priest who was martyred. Another, Valentine of Terni, was a bishop who was martyred. There is possibly another Valentine who was, you guessed it, martyred. Amidst all this murder, it should come as no surprise that the day is celebrated with mass quantities of boning.
After all this you may still be asking, "Okay, so some religious Valentines got whacked. When does the sweet, sweet lovemaking come in?" well i have no fucking clue. As for cupid you never see him but hes always hiding in the bushes shooting arrows at the asses of unsuspecting people forcefully making them fall in love with the first person they see. well someone has to make sure theres a reason to celebrate this holiday even if its not real love. But all kidding aside who gave a naked baby a bow and an arrow??? cupid has no real connection to st. valentine anyway, in the Roman version, Cupid was the son of Venus (goddess of love) and Mars. In the Greek version he was named Eros and seen as one of the gods (though other myths exist as well). Cupid was often depicted with wings, a bow, and a quiver of arrows. The following story is almost identical in both cultures; the most familiar version is found in Ovid's
Metamorphoses. When Cupid's mother Venus became jealous of the princess Psyche, who was so beloved by her subjects that they forgot to worship Venus, she ordered Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the evilest thing in the world. While Cupid was sneaking into her room to shoot Psyche with a golden arrow, he accidentally scratched himself with his own arrow and fell deeply in love with her.
Following that, Cupid visited Psyche every night while she slept. Speaking to her so that she could not see him, he told her never to try to see him. Psyche, though, incited by her two older sisters who told her Cupid was a monster, tried to look at him and angered Cupid. When he left, she looked all over the known world for him until at last the leader of the gods, Jupiter, gave Psyche the gift of immortality so that she could be with him. Together they had a daughter, Voluptus (meaning pleasure) and Psyche became a goddess. Her name "Psyche" means "soul." so theres really no connection between cupid and st.valentine.
Now that thats out of the way let me explain how much valentine's day is a scam to you guys out there.
So many people call Valentine's Day a "Hallmark Holiday," implying that it was created and encouraged by greeting card companies because we totally didn't just have Christmas two months ago. But Valentine's Day is much more than that. You think you can get off with just a card? Ladies expect to get a thoughtful, romantic gift (stuffed bears holding hearts that read "I Love You Beary Much" fit the bill nicely). Guys are expected to buy jewelry (better be expensive- not the cheap stuff), flowers (how else can you spend $30 to watch something die over the course of a few days?), and top it off with a nice dinner (would it KILL you to suit up once in a while?). Chocolates in one of those giant cardboard heart boxes would be nice, too. Then it's time for chocolate roulette, as you risk life and limb to see if you end up with one of the delicious/edible/not poison chocolates in the minefield of cocoa. so there you have it its a day where women expect you to go all out on the romance and gifts that make her feel fuzzy inside.
But not everyone has a valentine for this day.
So what if you didn't get a tissue-box full of cardboard cards that suggest that the Crocodile Hunter thinks "you're a beaut"? If you don't have a significant other or are the fat kid in Elementary School, Valentine's Day can be the most depressing day of the year. It can seem like a celebration of your opposite-sex ineptitude. but that just means you dont have to empty your pocket buying all that crap. I hope you all learned something from this, and i hope that something is that valentines day is bullshit. if you wanna show your special someone you care show her frequently not just one day out of the year show her you actually care. Heres a graph of how valentine's day is celebrated
And if your having trouble figuring out what to get that someone for this day heres an article courtesy of cracked .com of what not to get, enjoy
I wanna hear your side of the story for this day, I wanna know what you think.
