February 14, 2006
It's Me and You on Valentines Day
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
If there is one maxim in the greeting card biz, it's that 90% of cards
are purchased by women, and of those, 90% are sent to other women.
While it's very true that women are known to be more social, more
communicative, than men; and that women are usually keepers of the
hearth, which apparently includes maintaining all family ties to the
extended family as well as friends; I do believe there is another factor
in these numbers: Valentine's Day.
Not only do we giddily select our gifts & greeting cards for our mates,
but we are aware -- painfully so -- of our girlfriends who do not have
romance this holiday.
We remember, all too well, how without cards and flowers from a man, we
felt alone and spent the evening alone with a box or two of heart-shaped
chocolates we purchased for ourselves. We'd throw ourselves a pity
party that included on the list of festivities, a listing of all the
friends that didn't even think of us this holiday.
Out of empathy for our dateless and mateless friends, we send Valentines
Day cards to cheer them up. Or maybe we just do it out of fear that if
we don't send our pals Valentines Day greetings (as some sort of
sacrifice to romance), Aphrodite herself will be offended and take our
love away. But whatever the reason, we do send Valentines Day
greetings to our single friends. And this is where the math kicks in.
For every woman sending one Valentine to her man, there may be a man
sending one in return. So there, the math is almost equal, right? But
that same woman has how many single friends, sisters, sister-in-laws,
cousins, coworkers-workers, etc. to send cards to? This year for me,
it's 11. That's a 12-1 ratio in our house alone. What's the ratio at
in your house?
Now men...men hate Valentine's Day for all the wrong reasons.
As Valentines Day approaches, many men moan and mumble about this 'fake'
holiday. They see it as a test they are doomed to fail, or a trap they
are forced to fall into.
But while men fear this holiday, they really ought to be happy. No, not
because I am preaching on the virtues of mongamy (though there are
many), but because here is a chance to address one large relationship
issue: a woman feeling as if she is taken for granted.
Valentine's Day is not a test, nor a trap; it's an opportunity for a man
to show his woman that he does appreciate her. And unlike private dates
of relationship importance, such as anniversaries, Valentine's Day is a
holiday as noticeable as Christmas -- So there are public reminders to
prompt men into making some effort.
And that's all we women really want, a little effort put into showing us
how much we mean to you.
Is that too much to ask? (That's a rhetorical question!)
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
Posted by photocartoonist at 12:15 AM