One must really question the authenticity of this day especially for love, right? It has been said that the total spending on Valentine's Day will reach about $17.6bn in America this year, which is an all-time high. Valentines day is everywhere we look. Weeks in advance- shops are selling, cards, chocolates, teddies and gifts. Some people struggle to comprehend; if you love someone surely you do not need a day to show it.

I don’t personally know what to think of Valentines Day and so I did some research. I asked many people about how they felt about Valentines Day and why.

Out of the 20 people I asked, a staggering, thirteen people said it was a profitable ploy. Most reasons were very logical and rational. One 16 year old girl said it was, “A happy unimaginative, consumerist oriented, entirely arbitrary, manipulative, cheesy and shallow interpretation of romance day” although this made me chuckle, it really made me think. Surely if you really love this person you would not need a day to convey your love for him/her. Is a specific day really needed to show this “extreme” love? One could argue that you can show your love everyday and do not need one day where you have to buy them a gift to prove this.18 year old Jessica said, “I don’t really think love needs to be illustrated through materialistic objects. If I love someone, I really don’t understand how a bunch of roses just because it’s Valentine’s Day proves that. If anything it just ruins the surprise element of a true heart-felt gift.”

So that made me thinks even more. Why do so many people spend so much money and sometimes a lot of time buying valentines gifts? Retailers. Shops, companies, supermarkets, websites and magazines AKA everything. Everywhere we look, valentines day is publicized and is very normal. One could say it is all one big marketing campaign. This day, which was originally for love, became a day where one feels compelled to splash out on materialistic objects for their partner because, “that’s just what you do”.

Some people I asked said they liked Valentines Day. I asked them why they liked it and their responses also made sense to me. A 16-year-old boy said, “I think it is nice because it just gives you a little bit more motivation to buy something for the person you love and show them you love them. I mean, I buy my mum a bunch of roses each year- not a big deal. Just a nice gesture. Not everything has to be so serious.” This opinion swayed my mind a little bit. Valentines day originally originated a long time ago and was actually a day of fertility. Slowly it changed into a very consumer based day where gifts just became apart of it.

I don’t know about you but I still don’t know what to think about Valentines Day. Looking at it through both perspectives, I oddly enough, agree with both statements. I do indeed hope that this article may have made you really question and think about how you feel about Valentines Day. Overall I think it varies for everyone as it depends on who you are as a person and how you perceive love.