Every year on February 14th, people around the world spend a cumulative $23.9 billion on chocolate, flowers, and gifts for their partner. About 6 million couples get engaged on the holiday every year. Despite these large statistics, people’s feelings towards Valentine’s Day are usually 50/50: either they love it or don’t. Has the holiday become a capitalist scam or is the red box of chocolates a true symbol of your love for someone?
When approaching this question, it’s important to start with looking back on the history of the holiday. Valentine’s Day was adapted by Christians from the Pagan holiday, Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a celebration of fertility and often involved eligible young men and women of Rome to be set up together. Valentine’s Day, with the help of Christians, slowly became capitalist. As time went on, handmade paper cards were made during the Middle Ages. But the real change for the holiday was made in 1913: when Hallmark Cards started making Valentine’s Day cards. This change sparked a financial revolution for the holiday.
It makes sense that Valentine’s Day would be highly capitalized. Forbes said that “higher levels of marriage are strongly correlated with more state GDP per capita, greater levels of upward economic mobility, lower levels of child poverty, and higher median family incomes” (Forbes). It is in an economy’s interest to encourage romanticism because they profit off of the goods sold and benefit from these relationships just existing. People who are not in a relationship are much less likely to spend money on themselves. So, whether you are excited to exchange gifts with your partner or are dreading February 14th, practice self love (with or without a red box of chocolates).