2008 Woodie Awards
Express your hate for Valentine's Day
By: Jessica Cochran
Issue date: 2/12/07 Section: Entertainment
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The holiday is dated back to an ancient Roman tradition. One legend explains that Emperor Claudius II outlawed men to marry - he believed single men proved better soldiers than those with wives and children, according to historychannel.com. Valentine married soldiers secretly despite the law and was ordered to be killed by Claudius.
Another legend says Valentine was the first to send a valentine card, while imprisoned for his crime. Yet it wasn't until the mid 1800s when gift-giving in the United States slowly progressed into a tradition.
Now, Valentine's Day is often recognized as a commercialized holiday - a "Hallmark" holiday. Thus, the birth of the anti-Valentine's Day insurgent.
Being anti-Valentine's Day is a growing trend and slowly the market for anti-Valentine's merchandise has grown in demand.
Those who are anti-Valentine's day are seen trudging past holiday sections in retails stores, mumbling words of hatred for the nationally known day of love. And it seems these anti-Valentine insurgents are beginning to turn the whole holiday upside down.
Websites invite the anti-Valentine insurgent to express their profound hatred of the holiday through a classic rant or by designing a creative, one-of-a-kind anti-Valentine's Day card. One site, cafepress.com, invites these activists to participate in a contest conveying their hatred against the holiday by designing cards- with its three top sellers winning iPods.
If using creativity is not their forte or putting effort towards a rebellion appears a waste of time, American Greeting cards offers a another gift of hoiday-detestation. The cards, costing an average $3.99 like any other themed card, radiate phrases such as "I hate Valentine's Day" or the traditional "Happy Anti-Valentine's Day." If more cynicism is desired, according to americangreetings.com, one card displays a picture of a couple kissing with the message "they shared a moment." Inside the card reads "a lifetime commitment was completely out of the question. Happy Anti-Valentine's Day (for the woman who knows what she doesn't want)."
Another legend says Valentine was the first to send a valentine card, while imprisoned for his crime. Yet it wasn't until the mid 1800s when gift-giving in the United States slowly progressed into a tradition.
Now, Valentine's Day is often recognized as a commercialized holiday - a "Hallmark" holiday. Thus, the birth of the anti-Valentine's Day insurgent.
Being anti-Valentine's Day is a growing trend and slowly the market for anti-Valentine's merchandise has grown in demand.
Those who are anti-Valentine's day are seen trudging past holiday sections in retails stores, mumbling words of hatred for the nationally known day of love. And it seems these anti-Valentine insurgents are beginning to turn the whole holiday upside down.
Websites invite the anti-Valentine insurgent to express their profound hatred of the holiday through a classic rant or by designing a creative, one-of-a-kind anti-Valentine's Day card. One site, cafepress.com, invites these activists to participate in a contest conveying their hatred against the holiday by designing cards- with its three top sellers winning iPods.
If using creativity is not their forte or putting effort towards a rebellion appears a waste of time, American Greeting cards offers a another gift of hoiday-detestation. The cards, costing an average $3.99 like any other themed card, radiate phrases such as "I hate Valentine's Day" or the traditional "Happy Anti-Valentine's Day." If more cynicism is desired, according to americangreetings.com, one card displays a picture of a couple kissing with the message "they shared a moment." Inside the card reads "a lifetime commitment was completely out of the question. Happy Anti-Valentine's Day (for the woman who knows what she doesn't want)."
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