Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I have noticed a lot or articles online helping people deal with this day revolving around love, flowers and candy. Topics range from "What to get her", "How to survive this day" to "Last minute preparations." What I have noticed throughout the headlines though was the focus on women. They provided tips on what to do when you are single, which made it seem like it's tragic for a woman to be single on this day, yet perfectly fine for a man. They talked about how to get through this day of seeing so many happy couples, while knowing one is alone and without a man. This made me wonder how all those girls survive the rest of the year, since society clearly focuses so much on relationships and one's status of it. You go get your hair done and one question almost certainly revolves around whether one has found a boyfriend yet. Same thing at nail salons and similar gossip prone venues.


It made me think about the movies we watched in class and our subsequent discussion about what had or hadn't changed since the 50s. During the 50s many girls simply wanted to get married, find the perfect man and lead a happy life at home, caring for the children and playing housewife. Then came the 60s and women wanted to do things on their own, be more respected and have the same rights as their male counterparts. Yet you come across articles like the ones mentioned above today, just to realize that there is still so much focus on relationships. As if a woman can't be happy without a man by her side at all times. She has to read articles on how to survive being single and how to find a man as soon as possible so she is not alone another day. Inequalities still persist and women are not helping their cause by thinking they need a hot boyfriend or a new man to be successful. Women need to learn how to be happy on their own and society needs to accept single women, not look down on them or pity them. It is perfectly fine for a man to play the field or stay single for a bit, yet women are judged and others wonder why she can't find or doesn't want a leading man in her life right now.