Antivalentinism

Antivalentinism refers to a set of criticisms of Saint Valentine's Day (February 14th). These tend to fall into two categories, one anticonsumerist and the other an objection to the "forced" observation of romantic love. These two objections can exist independently, so that one antivalentinist might exchange hand made gifts with his or her beloved and spend time together without spending any money, and another might go shopping or partying with single friends. The criticism of forced observation of romantic love is based on the idea that if a person is forced by culture to profess or observe their love to another (especially on a universally agreed-upon day), or else suffer within the relationship as a consequence of not doing so, then there is no free will in said expression and thus it is not love. There also exists the objection to Valentine's Day on the grounds that for romantically unattached people, Valentine's Day is only a magnifier of the fact that they are unattached, quite possibly against their will and efforts.