So after posting something about Valentine's Day and having many people tell me Happy Single Awareness Day I decided to post something about Single Awareness Day. I have several problems with SAD. My biggest problem with having a Single Awareness Day is stated in the name itself. Every single that I know is fully aware of the fact that they are indeed single. As a friend of mine said it is simply an attempt on the part of the greeting card industry to make singles everywhere feel good about themselves. Most singles I know already feel pretty good about themselves and really don't need a day set aside to remember that they are singles.
Seriously now, if you think about it the fact our society needs a day set aside for the sole purpose of showing love and appreciation to someone is pretty sad. However, if we need a day in which we acknowledge our peers who are not in a relationship, that's equally sad. I seriously wonder how much the world would be turned around if we simply looked arund and showed support for someone we normally wouldn't do that for.
Think about the famous holidays that don't have a religious connotation to them, President's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Veteran's Day, they all commemorate something. President's Day, commemorating George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. Day - that's obvious. Verteran's Day, the soldiers who have fought and died for this country. What is it that Valentine's day commemorates? Initially it was supposed to commemorate a reverred Saint, but the greeting card industry, and our over sexed society have made it into a holiday commemorating love. Not phileo love, the kind of love C. S. Lewis says is between friends, but eros love, romantic love, love that our culture has made synonymous with sex. This is perhaps the main reason I am so against Valentine's Day. It no longer commemorates love, it is supposed to, but that's not what it has become. It has become a means of celebrating sex, and I will not comemmorate something a promiscuous society says I should support. Rather I would support a day dedicated to making those in our lives who don't normally feel it, feel appreciated.
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3 comments:
In Japan, I think it's a normal part of Shinto religion to have holidays for children, parents, etc., so the idea of commemorating a particular class of people or people in a certain life situation with a religious holiday is not unprecedented.
For Christians, I think we should look at Valentine's Day the same way we look at Christmas. Most of us don't stop celebrating Easter or Christmas just because the culture has refocused the holidays on buying presents or eating chocolate eggs. For the same reason, the widespread abuse of Valentine's Day is not a reason to stop celebrating it.
As for a Singles Awareness Day, I agree the name is kind of dumb, but I'm in favor of a holiday with religious connotations, officially recognized by the Church or not, that recognizes the imporance of single life and vocation.
Given that Valentine's Day is based in part on a Roman fertility festival, I think it's not entirely accurate to claim that it's only recently become all about sex. Not to mention that it really doesn't seem to me that the day's about sex--it's about couples, flowers, and chocolate.
On the other hand, what's wrong with celebrating sex?
I'm going to agree with Amy, but I will also add that Valentine's day is really about what you make of it. I don't think Valentine's Day is all about sex - I bought flowers for three friends and sent several cards to others, including my grandparents and brother. While yes, my husband brought me flowers, and I was delighted to get them, I was also very pleased with the Toblerone that my sister gave me.
I think you're a little sensitive to the "single" vs. "couple" idea right now (I'm seeing a running theme in your blog posts), and that is coloring your view of this day. While yes, it can be a "romantic" holiday that has sexual overtones, it can also be about the other forms of love as well. I will wish a be-lated happy Valentine's Day and do so with all the phileo love that I have for you!
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