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Deconstructing Valentine's Day Print E-mail
Monday, 14 February 2005
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Today is supposed to be a day about red hearts, chocolate, and flowers. I did a little research about the history of Valentine's Day, and what most people don't realize is that Valentine's Day is actually a day of violence. It is a little known fact is that when you ask someone to be your Valentine, you may be asking them to get locked away in a prison and then put to death. Of course, some say the roots of the holiday go back even further, to the days when boys used to gently slap girls with strips of goat hide dipped in blood. (Imagine the opportunities Hallmark is neglecting by focusing exclusively on the saccharine hearts and candies instead of the enprisonment and death and blood aspect. The visual possibilities for the greeting card industry are endless.)

Photo by Emilija Leckaite Granted, not many people know about these violent roots--the thing is that even behind the veil of pretty red hearts, in the basket with the chocolates and the vase of flowers, there is a dirty, cruel secret.

Chocolate. "On this Valentine's Day, I will not buy chocolate and I encourage all Americans to consider joining me in sending a message to the chocolate industry that they have to clean up their act," says Eliot Engel (representative for New York). "The chocolate you buy this Valentine's Day for your loved ones is probably made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West Africa."

Flowers. Flower plantation workers in Bogota "were exposed to 127 different pesticides, three of which are considered extremely toxic by the World Health Organization. In addition, 20% of these pesticides are banned or not registered for use in the US or Canada because they are extremely toxic and carcinogenic." Child labor is also a problem in this industry. (Americans are the major consumers of Colombian and Ecuadorian cut flowers).

Maybe, to go with our chocolates and flowers, we could have a line of Valentine's cards that have pictures of child slaves on them, or which spray pesticides into the face of the person who opens it.

Or, next time someone transmits the traditional Valentine's Day meme to you--show your love with chocolate and flowers--maybe try slapping them (gently) with bloodied strips of goat hide. At least until those industries show their love by changing their labor practices.


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Janel - washing my hands of St Valenti   | 68.165.246.xxx | Mar 14, 2005 (14:28:27)
So I suppose we should go out for dinner tonight to celebrate Lupercalia instead? I'll see if I can find some goats and dogs to sacrifice.
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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.
 
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