Honestly, Fuck Valentine’s Day.
I’m not opposed to romance. I’m a relationship expert who spends every billable hour of her life (and many non-billable hours) disseminating love advice. I will spend Valentine’s Day 2019 in New York’s Hearst Building: Half the day answering relationship Q&A’s on Harper’s Bazaar’s Snapchat, and the other half on Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Instagram Live, retooling the Tinder profiles for 6 of their staffers.
I oppose mandatory romance. The same way I oppose mandatory drinking on New Year’s Eve.
I don’t like feeling obligated to buy my wife overpriced flowers on a certain day of the year, knowing that in two days the heads of those flowers will look like a bouquet of penises in need of Viagra.
But I mostly don’t like how Valentine’s Day makes the singles in my life feel.
Singles don’t feel overlooked on Valentine’s Day. They feel overly-defined by their relationship status.
They feel judged. Pitied. Less than.
And they don’t feel like that on other days of the year.
Here are some facts that I have access to as Tinder’s Global Ambassador:
-
The majority of Millennials (72%) have made a conscious decision to be single for a period of time to focus on other things in their lives.
-
They did it to prioritize their personal needs, their career, and to focus on school.
-
Being single doesn’t make them feel sad. It makes them feel independent.
All of which is to say, the days of single shaming appear to be coming to a welcome end.
Until then, I remain fundamentally resistant to February 14th. Nonetheless, my wife will receive flowers on that day, because she shouldn’t be negatively impacted by my obstinance.
PS: Don’t leave without joining my tribe below!