Every year, many people celebrate Valentine’s Day to proclaim their love for each other. However, those people are in relationships. People who are single, don’t honor it by having a romantic dinner. In fact, they don’t celebrate it at all because Valentine’s Day is overrated.

Starting in January, all the stores stock up on Valentine’s Day gifts like flowers, stuffed animals, chocolates and other mementos. Many people procrastinate until the day before the holiday to buy their significant other a gift. This is a problem because the stores can get crowded with too many people buying last minute gifts. People feel forced to purchase some silly trinket because advertisers make people think they have to purchase something to show their feelings or to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive gifts to give their loved ones.

Valentine’s Day is overrated because it is just an excuse for people to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive gifts to give to their loved ones. The stores charge way too much for the gifts because all they care about is money.

It is not as fun when someone is forced do something romantic. Plus, why make single people feel terrible and lonely to the point where all they want to do is hang out at home and watch Netflix because they don’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend to celebrate Valentine’s Day with?

In theory, it is a nice romantic holiday for couples to celebrate their love for each other, but it is blown way out of proportion. Why is February 14 so important to celebrate one day, when couples can honor their love for each other every day? Even though it has hints of beauty, it’s mostly covered in childlike expectations, obsessiveness and greed.

Valentine’s Day is overrated is because the whole idea of celebrating love during this holiday, was supposed to have a broader meaning. Yet, the idea has unfortunately been narrowed down to just the happy couples giving each other gifts. With a small-minded definition of love, Valentine’s Day has completely lost its spirit and magic.

It also empowers the gender stereotypes of men and women on Valentine’s Day. Men are expected to plan the romantic dinner and find the perfect gift. Meanwhile, women don’t have to do as much for their counterparts. The problem with this is that it reinforces the idea that men are dominant over women and they should be grateful to be loved by these men.

The true meaning behind the holiday isn’t about hearts and flowers. According to NPR, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia by hitting women with animal skins. Two martyrs named Valentine were executed on Feb. 14, but in different years, in third century AD, they were remembered with St. Valentine’s Day. The true meaning is about two people who were killed on the day of Valentine’s Day. This special day was never about commemorating love.

To sum up, Valentine’s Day is overrated because it has become an unnecessary and commercialized holiday that just isn’t worth celebrating. A calendar should not dictate when to say, “I love you.”