VD

[annuin]

Ever notice how sexist Valentine's gift ads on tv are? All I ever see is guys buying gifts for women. What? when did it become one way gift-giving all of a sudden?

And then there's loads of ads with hideous heartshaped tacky jewelry *blech*. I don't think I could stomach receiving one of those things.

Either way, I'm happy not to participate in this wave of forced giftgiving... Christmas is bad enough. I much prefer to randomly surprise the SO with something rather than unimaginatively hand something over on the required day.

Comments

[notagod.livejournal.com]

Is why I've spent the whole week hand crafting a valentine's card...

[houseshadow.livejournal.com]

The sports talk radio show I listen to is the same way. Granted I'm sure 90% of their audience is male... But all the ads are "get her what she wants" or something. The station had a contest. I think the prize was free passes to a spa. They made a point when advertising the contest to, "make sure you give them to her!" The irony? A female won the contest. :)

[vinlander71.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with ya, but vgnwtch sees VD as sort of an "Anniversary" for us.. see, we met online for the first time in February.. so...

Re:

[prez.livejournal.com]

I'm of the opinion that you should only really have one anniversary, and certainly only one where you actually give gifts, etc. Pick it, move on (ie. either the day you met, or the day you got married, but not both).

Lilith and I met in late september, and while we both remember it each year, we don't do anything for it, because our wedding anniversary is late november.

But then, Lilith and I aren't huge romantics, and don't go for the overcommercialized american brand of romance anyway.

Re:

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

I'll have as many anniversaries as I want, matey. And it has nothing to do with commercialisation - neither of us has ever bought a card or gifts on Valentine's Day - but I like having this day for us specifically set aside for "us" time.

So there.

Re:

[vinlander71.livejournal.com]

I think my first statement came out wrong, let me clarify:

1) I hate the fact that Valentine's Day, in whatever form it had before, has become this over-commercialized thing.

2) I rather like anniversaries and like spending them with vgnwtch. :)

We met sometime in February, I don't remember the exact date, but #1 has really no effect on #2 here.

Re:

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

I tend to think of Valentine's day as something that other people do: My meeting-vinlander71-anniversary is on Lupercalia/Pagan Lurve Festival Day, which I plan on celebrating in the traditional manner (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/02/14/notes021403.DTL). OK, just one gorgeous boy and no blood, but you know...

Re:

[vinlander71.livejournal.com]

*GRIN*

[sonofstoker.livejournal.com]

Personally, I don't like Valentine's Day much at all. I would choose not to recognize it tomorrow, but Amy wants to because she's never had a SO on Valentine's before. Neither have I, but oh well. Unfortunately, I have no money so I can't buy anything.

[djbloodrose.livejournal.com]

I think that compulsively giving out jewelry basically boils down to highly uncreative people acting out the world's oldest profession.

[tanthe.livejournal.com]

Well, they say that as a guy you pay for sex, one way or another...

Re:

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Love letters or homemade gifts (no matter how tatty), or something you know your partner or friend really wants, are so much more endearing. Jewellery is lovely when it's something that genuinely caught the buyer's eye - vinlander71 has bought me jewellery on occasion over the past decade, and the big reason those pieces have been precious to me (apart from being beautiful) is that he bought them out of a genuine desire to give me pleasure, not to simply tick off an item on a list.

My first boyfriend turned up on my doorstep one V-Day with a teddy he'd picked up at a petrol station on the way over. I'd cooked a 3 course meal and made a luscious cake, having wanted to do something genuinely nice for him, and he'd thought "Oh, ought to get her something. This'll do." Ick.