Roses are red
Violets are blue
Valentine’s Day is an extension of the consumer-capitalist agenda we have bought into.
The commodification of love is what Valentine’s Day is made of. The ties between economy and the demonstration of love, compassion, commitment and other emotions associated with Cupid are myriad. By reducing the capacity for exchanging warm hearted sentiment to the purchasing power of any given person, we put people of lower socioeconomic classes at a disproportionate disadvantage for expressing love within these confines. In addition to the materialistic definition of human compassion propagated by this holiday, I find therein many other issues of exclusion.
The patriarchal subtext of a man’s power and influence over a woman and her emotional health is transparent. Women commonly are reduced to self-loathing when February 14 rolls around again and they find themselves single. I would imagine there are numerous posts dedicated to this gendered analysis of Valentine’s Day. Therefore, I will not expand heavily upon this.
I suppose my usual disapproval and generalized nausea surrounding the superfluous exchange of mass produced pink and red forgettable fluff is higher this year. With the apparent lack of authentic love seeping from political institutions, government officials and political ideology, pretending to give and receive love for one day out of the year seems hypocritical, at best.
Is deportation love?
Is the exclusion of immigrants from the labor force love?
Is the construction of a barrier between “us” and “them” love?
Is the objectification and harassment of women love?
It is my belief that doing justice to true love is a mindset necessitating daily commitment. Love is acting with respect and dignity towards those with whom we share few ideals; it is the recognition that humanity intersects along the continuum of existence. Love is not confined to confections, it is both intangible and as viscerally satisfying as sharing a smile.
TheWrongsIMustWrite 