Down with love

Anyone else feeling a distinct lack of love for 14th February? As we sat down to plan our Valentine's Day content we realised that no-one on Team Handbag actually enjoys V-Day. From the pressure it places on couples, to everyone's mad, fleeting obsession with making everything pink and heart shaped, we just don't get it. Here's why we're so over it...

Anneke Hak, showbiz writer

It forces couples in new relationships to have all sorts of conversations they don’t want to have:
I’m in a conundrum. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and I’ve been dating someone for around a month. Everywhere we go together massive red and huge signs declare ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’, and we’ve both become pros at ignoring it or hastily turning the conversation to things other than love and chocolates – I’m fast-running out of ideas! My sister kindly drew love hearts around the 14 February on the calendar in our kitchen too and now, whenever said boy is in our kitchen, I wonder whether he thinks I’m Valentine’s Day obsessed and actually drew the love hearts myself.

 What is the protocol to approaching Valentine’s Day when you are in a new relationship? Do I ignore it completely, as part of me hopes he will? But, then, what if he has got me something and I haven’t reciprocated the gesture? And if he ignores it, does that mean he doesn’t see our relationship going anywhere? God, my head hurts. I much prefer being completely single when the dreaded day roles around.

 Valentine’s day makes me miss my mum
As odd as this may sound, Valentine’s Day makes me think of, and miss, my mum. When I was younger she would leave chocolate outside of my bedroom door and tell me that Saint Valentine had bought it for me. Regardless of whether I received no other Valentine’s Day presents, this chocolate from my mum meant so much that it made up for it.

Now that I’m ‘all grown up’ that doesn’t happen anymore (she can hardly traipse into London to drop off Valentine’s Day chocolate, now can she?...Can she?)

Georgina Langford, junior fashion and beauty writer

It ruins a perfectly nice meal out
One of my favourite extra-curricular activities is going out to dinner. If I was wildly rich, I would dine out at the finest Japanese restaurants in the land every night of my life (instead of a Yo Sushi outing with a voucher once a month), because I love everything about restaurants, not least the no-washing-up factor. HOWEVER. On one day every year, namely Feb 14^th, it is impossible to go to a restaurant without being force fed weird, share-y, novelty pink n’red food, while surrounded by couples who are either acting indecently or sitting through a forced romantic meal. If that wasn’t offensive enough, you have to pay extortionate prices for the privilege. Yuk. Who even likes sharing food anyway?

It gives men an excuse to forget romance the other 364 days of the year
Contrary to what my cynical disapproval of Valentines fine dining might suggest, I am actually a die-hard, dyed-in-the-wool hopeless romantic. I might be learning to control it better as I get older, but when I fall for a guy, I fall hard (and normally fall over, my clumsiness never fails to embarrass me in situations of love.) In a dream world I’d like love notes and flowers every day (FYI red roses are a clichéd yet certified winner in my book) so why is it Valentines Day gives all men an excuse to be romantic on one day of the year only? One measly 24 hours. It’s just not enough for closet Juliets like me. 

Rebecca Cope, junior fashion and beauty writer

Heart-shaped novelty food is rubbish
I don’t like food that is novelty in any way. I don’t like heart-shaped biscuits more than normal biscuits. It’s just a biscuit with a new shape, that is in many ways more difficult to eat. Pink icing doesn’t taste nice. I feel the same about Easter biscuits shaped as chicks, or any such rubbish. It’s nothing personal, Valentine’s day.

It turns people in relationships into gushing idiots, and single people into total whingers
I hate having to listen to/pretend to listen to gushing, annoying people in relationships, who brag and blabber on and on about what their significant other is doing for them. Or not doing for them. I don’t care, it’s boring. You don’t talk about what your boyfriend is doing for you the rest of the year, so why should I care today? I don’t care, on any day. Sorry. I also find people whinging about being single equally as boring.

Rebecca Holman, editor

Valentine’s Day makes all single people* feel bad for being single
Ok, I’m going to go on a massive scary angry rant now, are you ready? I hate Valentine’s Day - because it makes intelligent, successful, independent women feel bad about the fact that they haven’t been given a bunch of mouldy carnations by an average man who probably doesn’t even remember when her birthday is anymore. Valentine’s Day makes single women (me) feel like we’re (I'm) a failure for not being in a below par relationship on one particular day in February when actually we should be rewarded for not settling for the first mediocre bloke who happened to ask us out. And Breathe.

*me

Valentine’s day is an entirely fictional construct designed to make us all spend more money and generally run around like a loon buying pink things (honest)
Valentine’s Day as we know it now is total made up - according to my extensive research,* 14^th February became a saints day to commemorate several Christian martyrs called Valentine. The day only became associated with love in the 14^th Century, and even then, nowhere did it say that we had to celebrate the day by covering everything we own in pink hearts, putting unnecessary pressure on perfectly decent relationships and freaking out because we haven’t been sent any Valentine’s cards. And how many other Saints' days you actually celebrate anyway? You don’t see people kicking up this much of a fuss over St Peter’s day, do you? You don't see your local branch of Zizzis completely booking up on a Tuesday night to celebrate St Agnes day, do you ? No, because that would be ridiculous.

 *Wikipedia

Veronica Kirby, lifestyle editor

My inbox gets overloaded with Valentine’s themed emails for 8 weeks before the ‘big’day. 
Being the lifestyle editor means that I have been receiving emails regarding ‘great alternative valentine’s day gifts/treats/breaks’ since the 16 December. No. They’re not great. They’re mostly just weird.

V-day doesn’t sit too well with the newly single…
After a year and a half my live-in boyfriend just broke up with me via email. Now tell me, is this worse or better than Carrie’s post-it note...

 Do you hate 14th February or is it your favourite day of the year? Let us know below, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter @handbagcom