Valentine’s Day can be a nauseating holiday. Those who are alone are reminded that society finds no value in being single. Those who are in relationships find a day celebrating “love” to really be about spending money on cheap gifts, flowers, and chocolates likely made by underpaid workers.
Sometimes it seems like you’ve basically got two choices: jump on the ridiculous band wagon or hide in your bed all day trying to ignore the outside world.
Or…potentially there’s another use for this overblown holiday: activism.
Below are some of my favorite posts over the last few weeks showing how others, both past and present have been remaking Valentine’s Day.
Buzzfeed’s List of Vintage Valentines Fighting for the Right to Vote:
What a brilliant way to capitalize on a holiday than by sending Valentine’s Day cards to politicians. One was even created by using a politician’s name as an acronym. Awesome use of Valentines. Awesome way to link a holiday to a political movement. I say we reclaim that and send Valentines about a woman’s right to her body to today’s Congressmen.
Veronica Varlow’s Awesome Survival Guide for Valentine’s Day:
Veronica has a little bit of everything in this guide, from altruism to self-care to designing dates with your honey.
“Single and 17, I was pissed when Valentine’s Day rolled around. I thought it was an evil reminder that I wasn’t one of the hand-holding couples walking down the halls of school. But instead of sulking the day away, I bought these cute Snow White Valentines’ and wrote: ‘Valentine’s Day is Dumb, but You’re Awesome’ on every single one and then I picked 16 random lockers and stuffed the Valentine’s through the vents. I somehow felt more powerful doing that – rather than wallowing in my own singledom sorrow – I took the day back.” -Veronica Varlow
Ms. Magazine’s List of Ways to Make Valentine’s Day Feminist
Number one on the list is, of course, to celebrate V-Day.
“Contrary to popular usage, the “V” in V-Day is not just a derivative of Valentine’s Day. V-Day is actually a global activist movement fighting to end violence against women.” –Emily Mae Czachor
Bonus:
Spring-boarding off of Emily’s awesome list, another alternative is to turn Valentine’s Day into a day to celebrate (or fight for) the right for people to love whomever they love. We’re up to 37 states (I think?) that have legalized same-sex marriages, and the number is ever growing. What an exciting political time to be witnessing!
Get involved.
Be part of history.
sometimesmagical 