Antivalentinism refers to a set of criticisms of Saint Valentine's Day (February 14). These tend to fall into two categories, one anticonsumerist and the other an objection to the "forced" observation of romantic love. These two objections can exist independently, so that one antivalentinist might exchange hand made gifts with his or her beloved and spend time together without spending any money, and another might go shopping or partying with single friends.
The criticism of forced observation of romantic love is based on the idea that if a person is forced by culture to profess or observe their love to another (especially on a universally agreed-upon day), or else suffer within the relationship as a consequence of not doing so, then there is no free will in said expression and thus it is not love. There also exists the objection to Valentine's Day on the grounds that for romantically unattached people, Valentine's Day is only a magnifier of the fact that they are unattached, quite possibly against their will and efforts.
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Valentine's Day has been dubbed as a "Hallmark holiday" (a reference to the Hallmark greeting card company based in the United States). The moniker is used due to the millions of valentines exchanged each Valentine's Day; a large portion of cards that are purchased in the U.S. are Hallmark cards.
Many companies and businesses make large profits from selling massive amounts of cards, flowers, chocolates, candies, stuffed animals and other gifts which can lead to those with a significant other feeling they are expected to purchase such gifts, whether they want to or not. Some people believe this takes away from the values, significance and meaning of Valentine's Day.
Singles Awareness Day (SAD) is a play on Valentine's Day that is usually celebrated on the 14th of February or an adjacent day to get away from the commercialism of Valentine's Day.[1]
Some critics of Valentine's Day hold "Anti-Valentine's Day" events, whose title is often shortened to "anti-V.D Day." (The initials V.D. are more commonly used to mean "venereal disease"; thus, the wordplay warns against the unbridled sexual passion seemingly promoted by Valentine's Day.)
Anti-Valentine Cards have been popular almost as long as Valentine cards have been.[2] They are typically cynical or sarcastic toward romance or the commercialism associated with Valentine's Day.