Valentine's Day...

Here in Japan it somewhat reflects the sexism that still permeates the workplace. Valentine's Day is a "man's day." The women are expected to give chocolates not only to their boyfriends, husbands, or "crushes," but to the men in their office as well. Hence we have the giving of "giri choco," which literally means "obligation chocolates." Quite literally, when a woman gives chocolates to her co-workers, she will say, "Giri choco desu."--> "These are your obligation chocolates." What a way to show appreciation!

On March 14th, one month later, the holiday "White Day" was initiated to let the women get even. This is the day for the men to give chocolate to the ladies. The thing I don't think is fair, is that the men can see which women gave them chocolate, and then they can simply just return the favor to those women, and in true male fashion, not give it much thought at all. The burden of "how much should I spend" and "who should I give chocolate to" falls yet again to the women.
In the midst of these J-traditions, it was a basically Valentine-free Valentine's Day for me. S thinks that Valentine's Day is commercial, and that a holiday shouldn't dictate to him when to be romantic (of course he's French, so NO ONE can dictate how to be romantic to him, haha). So, though up until now, I have pretty much been a V-day believer, like most American girls, worrying what type of present is most appropriate for the current status of my relationship, and getting way too excited for what kind of surprise date I could possibly be in for, I've found myself more cynical this year. Is Valentine's Day simply a day of "giri romance?"-- the day when every couple feels obligated to do something romantic just because it's Valentine's Day, though every other day of the year lacks any romance? And doesn't obligation defeat the purpose of romance anyway?

A work party on Valentine's Day evening prevented me from doing it the "traditional" way anyway, but S and I did still manage a last-minute, totally unplanned rendezvous, which I guess was spontaneous enough for him and still romantic enough for me.
I've concluded that all the Valentine's Day fluff of roses or chocolates or "romance" won't make anyone fall in love anyway. So why not make such a holiday just an obligatory day to break up the monotony of a hard-working February? I certainly will not be opposed to receiving my "giri choco" on White Day next month !!