Talk:Valentine's Day/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

Protected?

Is it protected just because the day is soon, and lots of people don't like the day? I was only going to make the minor edit of linking the word singles to Single (relationship).Schizombie 06:36, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

If you were reverting anonymous vandals yourself during the lead-up to Valentine's Day, you'd breathe a sigh of relief to have a little respite. --Wetman 11:19, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm assuming some vandal wrote in the origins of Valentine's Day replacing the word " martyrdom" with "bitches"....? Apparently when it was protected not all of the problems were taken out. Just do a search for the word to find the problem I am talking about. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.9.149.216 (talk • contribs)

Amen to that Wetman. Schizombie, I added what you wanted, No harm no foul eh? Dragoonmac - If there was a problem yo I'll solve it 22:53, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

valentines day

Have you ever wondered where the origin of Valentines day came from? A catholic saint? I was surprised to learn that a holiday such

In medieval times, every day was named after a saint and was commonly called by that name. St. Valentine was arbitrarily assigned to February 14. Almost nothing is known about Valentine and certainly nothing that would connect him to lovers. Kauffner 18:26, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Shocker?

The caption says Valentine is gesturing the Shocker. It DOES appear to be the Shocker but it's unlikely that's what the artist intended. Sharksfin 06:01, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

the vandals have no better job....they prevent genuine users from changing any mistakes that might have occured

St. Valentine in Croatia

roses are roses not days

France

French for Valentine's Day is Saint Valentin, not sainte valentine ;-) Yes, I know we French are annoying with our spelling xD

"Medieval era" section

Some contemporary scholars believe Chaucer created the ascociation between valentines day and love - and furthermore, he was talking about St. Valentine of Genoa, which would make sense because the spring imagery in the poem doesn't make much sense for england in mid-feburary. (Cite). Would changing that section meet with any objections? Mike1024 (t/c) 09:47, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Jewish massacre

I looked at some scholarship regarding this tragic event. I'll paste it below and give the URL of one authoritative website (an .edu). After extensive research though, my observation is that this tragic event, although very real, had nothing to do with Valentine's day per se and as such does not belong in this article on Valentine's Day. It deserves the light of day and belongs perhaps in the 1342 events page, but the massacre had nothing to do with the celebration of Valentine's Day and I think it should be moved from an article that is supposed to be about Valentine's Day.

Secondly, the paragraph needs some accuracy. The full story is that "the authorities [of Stroudsbourg], who attempted to save the Jews, were overthrown by a fear-stricken mob led by the butchers' and tanners' guilds and by the nobles who were determined to do away with the Jews who were their economic competitors and to whom they were indebted for loans. Thus in this city, at least, it was not merely religious bigotry and fear of the plague, but economic resentment that fired the craftsmen and the nobles to their work of extermination." The current wiki paragraph just makes a blanket accusation against "Christians" and in light of the amplified details found at the website below, I sincerely believe the current paragraph should be moved and redacted once it winds up in the 1342 article which is where I would like to put it. Please fell free to comment if you believe otherwise. Thanks!

Here's the scholarship from URL: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.html "The second account describes the Black Death in general and treats specifically of the destruction of the Jewish community in Strasbourg. In this city the authorities, who attempted to save the Jews, were overthrown by a fear-stricken mob led by the butchers' and tanners' guilds and by the nobles who were determined to do away with the Jews who were their economic competitors and to whom they were indebted for loans. Thus in this city, at least, it was not merely religious bigotry and fear of the plague, but economic resentment that fired the craftsmen and the nobles to their work of extermination. Those people of Strasbourg, who had thus far escaped the plague and who thought that by killing off the Jews they would insure themselves against it in the future, were doomed to disappointment, for the pest soon struck the city and, it is said, took a toll of sixteen thousand lives." Bundas 17:58, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Update on Massacre

I sincerely doubt the person who took exception to my edit and reverted read this post on the talk page. The issue is not whether the massacre is true or not - it is true and it happened. The issue is whether it belongs on a page about this particular holiday. The massacre as awful as it was, had NOTHING to do with Valentine's Day. Does everything that happened on February 14th belong on the Valentine's Day page? Why not as long as it's true? Of course everything that ever happened on February 14th does not belong here. It belongs on the Feb. 14th page and this particular event also belongs on the 1349 page as well (as it was there already - great, no problem with that). Furthermore, the revert does not address the issue of the blanket accusation against "Christians" discussed supra. Massacre was a wee bit more complicated than Jewish versus Christian. Kindly read the URL posted above. Bundas 18:41, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Malysia

"Malysia, KUALA TERENGGANU, Feb (Bernama)

Muslims in the country, especially lovers, have been advised not to celebrate Valentine's Day tomorrow.

State Islam Hadhari Development Committee Deputy Chairman, Muhammad Ramli Nuh said celebrating the Day could be regarded as recognising the enemies of Islam because Valentine or Valentinus took part in planning and attacking Cordoba, once a well-known centre of Islam in Spain, causing its downfall....

Muhammad Ramli said although not many couples celebrate Valentine's Day in the state, the state government wished to remind that the celebration should not be held including in hotels."

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/010215

INDIA

There is a similar day in India. It is called "Padva". It is one of the days of the Diwali festival . It falls during the month of Oct-Nov. It is the day on which the husband gifts his wife. Traditionally ,the gift, was a Saree or piece of jewelry. It is the expression of love by the husband towards his wife.

Valentinius

User:Kauffner in a "rewrite of the history", suppressed the brief mention of Valentinius, the only historical Valentine with the least connection to erotic love. I have returned it to the article. It makes no claims, merely mentions the existence of a much more famous Valentinius. The edit history of this User] speaks for itself. Wikipedia is not an organ of the Roman or any other Church. --Wetman 08:19, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

This strikes me as an inappropriately personal response. I write some stuff about Christmas some stuff about Valentine's Day...and so what? That makes me a Vatican's spokeman? I am not even Catholic.

As far as Valentinius goes, IMO the way the subsection was originally written it sounded like some cranky Da Vinci Code style conspiracy theory. (The real Valentine -- a Gnostic love machine surpressed by a centuries long Opus Dei conspiracy.) Valentine was a really common name at that time -- it's not reasonable to connect everyone with that name to Valentine's Day. In any case, I rewrote the subsection in question to give it a "just the facts" tone. I hope this solution is satisfactory to you.

Earlier, I replaced the reference to the printed version of the Catholic Encyclopedia with a link to the appropriate page on the New Advent web site. I don't understand why you would put the old reference back in. The Web page is an electronic version of the same reference and thus strikes me as superior. I doubt very many Wikipedia readers would actually go to the trouble of looking up a printed reference from 1908.

There is no Wikipedia about the Luperci, so took out the brackets. I thought it looked ugly to have a single red word in in the middle of the article.Kauffner 16:00, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The whole point of red links is to get people to create missing articles. Please re-add the link. Clinkophonist 20:22, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was Move. 4 support, 2 oppose. —Wknight94 (talk) 03:19, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

Wikipedia should follow popular usage and the Roman Catholic Church in moving this page and this discussion to Valentine's Day, currently a re-direct. There are three "Saint" Valentines. "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" is ossified in the popular American folk memory (nowhere else) from headlines of tabloids in the 1920s. Whether or not these highly-conventionalized "martyrs" were originally used as covers in rededicating the last non-conformist chapels of the followers of Valentinus, called Valentinius at Wikipedia, with his sacramental marriage-chamber ideas, is the issue to contend, not whether Valentine is "Saint" or not. --Wetman 19:37, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)

It would cause controversy as an attempt to remove Catholic connotations to the holiday. Best the way it is. Darwiner111 22:44, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

I support changing the name of the article to Valentine's Day. It seems to be standard usage. Kauffner 16:19, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

How could it cause controversy since the catholic church has already removed any saintly connotations to all Valentines and the controversial approach is in leaving it as it is? I support the change to Valentine's Day, with this page as the redirect. I agree with Wetman that the only correct usage is historical, as in reference to the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Fanx 10:27, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

'Valentine's Day" -Massacre' gives you 23,300,000 hits on Google, '"St. Valentine's Day" -Massacre' gives you 702,000, and '"Saint Valentine's Day" -Massacre' gives you a mere 129,000. The stat for "Valentine's Day" persumably includes both "Saint Valentine's Day" and "St. Valentine's Day". But even if you adjust for this, "Valentine's Day" is still the overwhelmingly first choice -- over 96 percent. (If you don't put in "-Massacre", the result is only slightly lower -- and still over 96 percent.)Kauffner 07:34, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

The name is "St.(or Saint) Valentine's Day". It should stay here. TJ Spyke 00:46, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Support. The only usage today is for the massacre and even that is diminishing. The Catholic saint day is abolished. I think this is an historical usage that should be covered within the article. --Dhartung | Talk 07:32, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

link documenting the decision by the Church to get rid of this feast day?unsigned comment was added by 74.98.236.249 (talk • contribs) 2007-03-03T00:48:11 (UTC)

Are there any tv documentarys on "Valentine's Day"

There have been tv documentarys on just about each and every subject a person can think of, including a PBS 25 minute documentary on Labor Day. Does anyone know about a tv documentary about Valentine's Day, or is there just a "Peanuts" cartoon and not much else?24.195.242.116 00:57, 25 July 2006 (UTC)Bennett Turk

Gnosticism

I am not sure why there is a section on the famous gnostic of this name? Is there some connection with the holiday? LawrenceTrevallion 15:26, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

The only connection seems to be the name, which was a very common one at that time. But I have tried to delete it without success before. See the discussion above under section heading "Valentinius."Kauffner 04:53, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

There is a real factual problem with this section in its assertion that the "bridal chamber" counter's mainstream Christianity's asceticism. I'm not familiar with the Valentinus of the argument off hand, but I know that this simply does not ring true with most early Gnostic writings. Specifically the treatment of the bridal chamber in the Nag Hammadi scriptures does not actually refer to copulation. The rationale is this: copulation multiplies the number of people on the planet, and more people means a multiplication of the evil illusion of separation. Thus copulation and reproduction belong to debased love, whereeas the bridal chamber actually comes in is as a representation of two becoming one; in other words the bridal chamber is a mystical union and not a division as comes from sexual reproduction. For Gnosticism the bridal chamber is entirely symbolic. The Gnostic ethos tended to forbid all sexuality categorically, an extension of its grotesque misogyny. Greendemiurge 14:15, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Agreed -- the theological claims are erroneous. Furthermore, the Rome (Pope) are ridiculous, since his Gnosticism would make him a serious heretic. Further, many scholars debate whether or not Gnosticism can even be properly called Christianity. Regardless of all that, this Valentinus is NOT the St. Valentine for whom the day is named, and has no place in this article, which is about a completely unrelated person. Deleted.

Saint Valentine?

The caption under the image in the top right hand corner says 'Saint Velentine', I didn't realise Saint Valentine looked so much like a box of Chocolates.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.167.195.199 (talk • contribs) 12:17, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Err... Jack Valentine?

I think the section at the very end of this page regarding regional traditions in the UK is incorrect - I've lived in Norfolk most of my life and no-one I know has ever mentioned Jack Valentine or the practise of leaving sweets at people's back doors. I think this might have been taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2005/02/01/valentines_2005_norfolk_traditions_feature.shtml. If that's the case, I don't think that one prank and the unsubstantiated recollections of someone who hasn't lived in the country for over 30 years should really count as proof that this still happens today. Seekay 17:54, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Feb 14 coming..

I seriously think we should have this page closed to public edits during most of February cause everyone will be putting their loved ones names all over the article etc. Wikiphreak 22:09, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Agreed.

Spam

Removed spam from top of article...twice in one morning. CsBerry 15:04, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Removing static

• "The association of the middle of February with love and fertility dates to ancient times." No. There's no Greek "February" and Latin februa are objects concerned with purification. See revised article Juno Februata.Wetman 22:43, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

• "[[:Image:Hera2.JPG|thumb|left|100px|The Roman goddess Juno is often depicted as a severe beauty. The festival of Juno Februa was celebrated on February 13-14.]]" The line drawing does not illustrate a Juno Februata. No connectiobn with Valentine's Day, the subject of this article. Wetman 22:43, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

• "In Guerber's passage on the worship of Vali: "Vali is god of eternal light, as Vidar is of imperishable matter; and as beams of light were often called arrows, he is always represented and worshipped as an archer. For that reason his month in Norwegian calendars is designated by the sign of the bow, and is called Lios-beri, the light-bringing. As it falls between the middle of January and of February, the early Christians in efforts to stop the Germanic tribes from celebrating their rituals, dedicated this month to St. Valentine, who was also a skillful archer, and was said, like Vali, to be the harbinger of brighter days, the awakener of tender sentiments, and the patron of all lovers." This quote is untraceable on the Internet. Any connection to Valentine's Day, the subject of this article? 22:43, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Nothing is untraceable on the internet...  :-) This quote is from folklore collected by Guerber in The Norsemen. See the following website: http://www.haxton.org/Vali.htm for more info.. Have a great day! 63.3.15.129 16:00, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

"...awakener of tender sentiments, and the patron of all lovers." Is that really the entire substance of a purported connection with Valentine's Day? A bit slender, for an encyclopedia, don't you know. --Wetman 13:59, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Valentinsdag

"In Denmark, Norway & Sweden Valentines Day is known as Valentinsdag."

I can't speak for the other countries but here in Sweden it is definitely not called Valentinsdag - it is called Alla Hjärtans Dag. Just thought that I should point that out.

Eloriel 11:05, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

If you have a source for that, make the change! (If you can't edit the article due to the semi-protection, please point me to the source here and I'll make the edit.) Seraphimblade ^{Talk to me Please review me!} 21:48, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I can verify that. Living in Sweden I can guarantee that no one ever says Valentinsdag. I also looked it up in my encyclopedia of Swedish culture, the dictionary and Swedish wikipedia. Source for info on sales about Mother 's day vs. Valentine's Day in Sweden: http://www.it-wire.nu/show.jsp?pressId=646&distributionId=650 The entry has been edited accordingly. Vidyadhara 11:19, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

source e.g.: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alla_hj%C3%A4rtans_dag JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Zimbabwe's national security minister has told the country's last remaining white farmers that they will be jailed if they refuse to abide by a deadline that passed over the weekend for them to leave their farms, according to a newspaper report on Monday.

Wiki, I love you <3

If you know where the proper place for telling your love to wikipedia is, please inform ;-) Thanks. &>-- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.21.98.115 (talk) 17:06, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

Duplication

We have sections on "Sepandarmazgan" and "espandarmazegan", which seem to be the same thing... AnonMoos 19:42, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Pseudohistory

The impossibly naive section of "history" repeated, in part word-for-word, the press release providedby the US Greeting Card industry to History Channel, that respected storehouse of reliable historical information: Click here! Copyright issues aside, I have corrected the text to bring it into line with reality. I expect there will be squeaks of dismay from folks who refuse to read the Saint Valentine bit in The Golden Legend: For the Golden Legend St. Valentine click here. Catholic Encyclopedia: the actual article on the various Valentines is linked at Saint Valentine. --Wetman 22:45, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Oh, it wasn't word-for-word, but it was indeed an attempt to milden the myth-debunking content of this article and to shift the balance away from facts and towards sugary nonsense, so it had to be changed. I do believe that my edits, albeit avoiding sharp polemical formulations, didn't restore the pro-Valentine tendency. --91.148.159.4 00:43, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

I have restored suppressed information, corrected the "history" and quoted Charles d'Orleans "Valentine" rondeau. --Wetman 11:25, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Valentine's Day and its equivalents in other cultures

This section is about a third of the article and a lot of it just, this country celebrates on that day and that country celebrates on some other day, and so what? Also, there is no distinction made between traditional holidays and something like "Black Day," which is a passing pop culture fad based on some depressing movie. These holidays are not Valentine's Day and shouldn't be getting so much prominence in this article. Kauffner 04:05, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Agreed about Black Day - maybe it deserves a mention because it's a direct off-shoot of Valentine's day, but no more than a link to it's article. This article is about Valentine's Day so details should be left to the linked article. --ShizuokaSensei 07:51, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

MISC Edits

"they give chocolates to all their male co-workers, sometimes at significant personal expense. " Significantly expensive, like Halloween candies? --69.212.110.189 23:27, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Marketing section of Article

Why exactly is there no section beyond the link to the Hallmark holiday discussing how heavily marketed Valentine's day is? &>-- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.98.236.249 (talk • contribs) 2007-03-03T00:48:11 (UTC)

Japan women are not impressed

They see it as it should be seen rationally, a corporate rip off. I am surprised the wikipedia article don't link valentine with any industry. The evolution of the event and related commercialization is worth a mention in the article. In fact, those facts are what put wikipedia at strategic advantage over corporate media, as the later will never venture there. Avoiding them mean we are just another media, echoing the same tied dogma that we are used to hear from TV and news paper (Written by wealthy white men)

The tradition is relatively new. It was started 40 years ago by Japan's leading chocolate manufacturer.

But in a culture where gifts are often used to cement good social relations, it has become entrenched in corporate life.

However, a recent survey found that 70% percent of female company workers would like the custom to end. BBC [1]

I don't understand why this article doesn't discuss the mass commercialization of Valentine's day. At least Japan understands what's really behind it all.

Sentimental embroideries

The sentimental "touches" to the Valentine tale are modern, unless they can be sourced. Not the other way round, needless to say. The "note" detail is invented to provide a respectable "source" for the greeting card industry: it is unlikely to predate World War I. Any earlier account with these features should be edited in, naturally. --Wetman 21:57, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

The West

Western World. Please take this into account and rename the sections. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.78i hate you.97.137 (talk) 11:21, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Commercial Holiday, Marketing & Industry Issues

I don't have edit access yet. There is a citation needed after, "The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines." This could reference American Greetings's information at http://pressroom.americangreetings.com/archives/val07/valbiz07.html Greg searle 19:56, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Seems while talking about the commercialisation of valentines day, stats about sales of contraceptives might be relevant. (aside: Can anyone find a source for such information? I gave it a quick google and ended up with a whack of all things.) Even if it's judged not entirely appopriate or whatever, it would be useful to have such information (if it exists) linked from the discussion page at the very least. 203.171.85.67 12:58, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Why doesnt' this article detail the conflicts that arise from the Rose industry, the diamond industry, and the chocolate industry, whom all recieve large profits from this holiday, such as child soldiers, killing, and child slavery.. Please update this. Dkceaser 01:32, 15 February 2007 (UTC)dkceaser

Um, provide verifiable information from reliable sources, and we'll talk. --Not a dog 02:10, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I was pretty shocked to not see a criticism section on this wiki. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cowicide (talk • contribs) 17:53, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

White day in Japan

As there seems to be some interest in the marketing origins of holiday customs: I have been told on a couple of occasions, while living in Japan, that white day was originally started by a marshmallow company. I don't have a reliable source for this. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.108.87.252 (talk) 23:57, 12 February 2007 (UTC).

If Valentine's Day in Japan is similar to the American version, it is grossly commercialized, but it's the consumer's fault, not industry's. If you didn't buy this stuff, they wouldn't produce it and offer it for sale. Why not write a good old fashioned love note, or buy regular gifts rather than Valentine's themed ones? If enough people did that, all the commercialism would go away. Applejuicefool (talk) 16:54, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

History of the Valentine's Day Card with Heart

Many centuries ago It became fashionable for a woman to give to her husband or loved one a remembrance of herself as he would be leaving her for a span of time for business or war.

Here is a description of these ancient valentines. A woman would procure a good piece of cloth or leather, ( paper was rare ). Then she used dye ( expensive ), or a good quality mud mixed with local minerals or plant extracts. She dipped her bottom in the dye including her genitals, then sat down on the cloth and rocked her bottom a few times to get a good imprint on the substrate ( cloth ). This would leave a print of her bottom and genitals on the cloth which she let dry, then folded her gift ( the valentine ) and gave it to her husband as a keep sake. To remind him of what he might miss if he was unfaithful, and for love. The print left by her bottom on the cloth very closely resembles the Heart shape that we see today on Valentine Cards. It is this shape of a woman's bottom that created the valentine heart, it is not representative of a heart which pumps blood. Turn a valentines heart upside down and you will get a general picture.

How many centuries ago, and where? Source this? --Ellydishes (talk) 23:50, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Please vet my changes

I've reworked the unsourced (and ticketed) assertions to bring them into line with the references. Please check that they are accurate, though unsentimental. I've added the ref. to Catholic Encyclopedia on St. Valentine, because someone was asserting here that the day was declared by "the pope" in 496. --Wetman (talk) 22:28, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

FläskRöv —Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.52.14.8 (talk) 09:09, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Lead

The second sentence in the lead says "in North America" ... however, the article does not go into any detail about other continents. I believe this section could use some addition to get a worldwide perspective. any opinions> Kushal^t 02:33, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

South America

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

Wrote by Newaz Sharif (BCA)

 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.89.67.230 (talk) 16:03, 11 February 2009 (UTC) 

Valentine's day is also celebrated in all of South America. In the article it says it's a holiday celebrated in North america and Erurope which is wrong because you don't mention South America (only in a few lines at the end of the article) which happens to occupy a big part of planet earth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.209.185.240 (talk) 06:36, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Linked fron 4chan

This page has been linked from the /b/ board on 4chan.org please watch for vandals--→LzyGenius 09:18, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

"See also: Sexual Intercourse"

This struck me as odd. Why is sexual intercourse, a seemingly biological topic, associated so closely with Valentine's Day? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.125.253 (talk) 21:41, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

USA category? why?

Why is there an USA holiday category at the bottom, i thought this is the english wikipedia, common to any country that speaks english; not just US. Mile92 (talk) 00:24, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Categories are invented so that listmakers can feel more important. There's nothing in it beyond that. Useful categories would function as indices: judge how useful the categories you see would be as indices.--Wetman (talk) 05:37, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

the christans and some other faiths believ valenines day wasstarted by saint valentine , he was put in jail for love. this king didn't want enyone to get married because, he was going to smake the men go to war and didn't want them to be to attched to the wife. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.180.110.136 (talk) 01:11, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

percentage purchased by women

Re: Insufficient cited source[4] in this line: "The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.[4]" This is not written anywhere in the source. (Source[4] is: http://pressroom.americangreetings.com/archives/val08/valbiz08.html.) I don't have edit access yet; with Valentines Day fast approaching, I respectfully request that the line be removed as soon as possible until a sufficient source is found.Slmnlln (talk) 01:09, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

The source says that men spend double as much as women. Men's average 165$ against women's 85$. I'm removing the percentage and putting that. If someone has a source for exact percentage then please add it. --Enric Naval (talk) 02:46, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

I guess the line mentioned above was in the introduction? It is repeated further down the page under the heading Modern Times and the page is now contradicting itself. I don't have edit access either. Greetings Manu.eder (talk) 19:25, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Yes. I hadn't noticed that the sentence appeared twice on the article. I fixed it now. --Enric Naval (talk) 23:41, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

The two statements are not necessarily inconsistent: perhaps women buy more cards (which are fairly cheap), but men spend more in total when one takes into consideration higher-priced items such as candy, flowers, tickets for romantic evenings at the bowling alley, etc., etc. I agree, however, that the two statements are not obviously consistent, either, and the whole matter needs revision and clarification to avoid confusion. Alas, I don't have a clue what the actual answer is. Drhoehl (talk) 20:09, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Argentina

In Argentina february the 14th is not celebrated as the article suggests, it is later on in the year. The blurb on South America is quite generalised. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.170.90.3 (talk) 06:32, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

I searched on google news[2], and newspapers from Argentina all seem to say that San Valentin is celebrated on 14 February [3][4] --Enric Naval (talk) 16:18, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Valentine's day in Asia

七夕 is qī xī not qi xi. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cypherpunks3 (talk • contribs) 22:36, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

I have read about how women in Japan feel compelled to give Valentine's day gifts to co-workers, but not about what the women do in China or Korea. Is this a case of "lumping all the East Asians" together, or is there some kind of reference we can all read about? -- A girl from Hong Kong who was never pressured about giving gifts to boys for Valentine's Day. (tessc (talk) 19:32, 14 February 2008 (UTC))

I have reworded this section. Hopefully its clearer. --tessc (talk) 20:02, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Valentine's Day is also Prevelent in loving u & in India and its Mostly Celebrated in major Cities,On the day young boys and girls could be seen exchanging flowers and Choclates. Shops Could be seen adorned in Red "The color of Love" seling Valtentines Day Gifts. —Precedingunsigned comment added by 75.142.105.177 (talk) 20:15, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

In Cambodia Valentine's Day is called "Tngai Bun Songsaa" or "Significant Other Day". They have largely embraced the Western excesses and imagery including cupid, hearts, and the sale of cheap roses on February 14. CrossingCambodia (talk) 21:46, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

There is some dubious information in the part concerning valentines day in Asia. Somebody has fraudulently included Pakistan as one of the biggest spenders on Valentines day in Asia. Not only does this sound unlikely, the reference that is used to support this(35) does not mention Pakistan at all!

 Done Removed. -- OlEnglish ^(Talk) 21:34, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Anonymous Valentines

I'm surprised there is nothing on the tradition of sending a present anonymously on Valentines day as a 'secret admirer', which I always thought was the original purpose of the day and is certainly a known tradition in the UK. The idea is that it is an accepted day upon which you can send a gift to a girl who will then (the thinking goes) be intruiged because it is anonymous, which then would hopefully ensnare them. The practice of people who are already in an established relationship is generally viewed as a corruption or commercialisation of this tradition. I'm sure this is widespread to warrant a section. Opinions? Caspar esq. (talk) 17:43, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

The reason that there's not much on the UK custom is because Valentine's day has always been a Christian day, originally a reminder of St.Valentine's final act of sending a letter to his betrothed before being beaten with clubs and beheaded by the Romans for not submitting to the emperor's wishes. Valentine declared his everlasting love to her and signed it "from your Valentine" before he was beaten and beheaded by the executioners. Local commercial traditions like the UK custom described are local variations, and nothing to do with the original Christian message. Sort of like chocolate eggs & bunnies at Easter, and decorating trees at Christmas. Russia is trying to change Valentine's Day into a non-Christian event called the "Day of Family, Love and Fidelity". Bushcutter (talk) 01:43, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

This is really interesting; I would be interested to know more about the origins of the UK interpretation as my understanding is close to that of Caspar's. At school, girls used to come in with presents from their parents (usually Mother), and it is clear that 'Valentines Day' in the UK is now predominantly the practice, or the vehicle, for known lovers or partners to offer gifts to one another, without any sense of intrigue or secrecy. Xzrox (talk) 10:47, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually, this sounds more like another example of the UK fiddling its heritage so as to not offend the newcomers. Whatever you do, don't imply that it's a Christian holiday, or the immigrants will start hurling petrol-bombs! Bushcutter (talk) 06:28, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Needs editing

That second paragraph is a duplicate of the sentence at the end of the first paragraph. I'd fix it myself but since the article is locked.... 68.205.68.57 (talk) 03:14, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

 Done -- OlEnglish (talk) 03:45, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Mistake in intro

Should read "men on average...", not "men in average...". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.108.11.43 (talk) 07:31, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Agreed, the last sentence of the third paragraph of the introduction should read "men spend on average twice" or "men spend an average of twice" and not "men spend in average." Grammatically, this does not make sense. --Therumble (talk) 20:15, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

INDIA

In India, the right-wing forces spearheaded by the BJP-RSS (who worship Hitler) and their frontal groups like Shri Ram Sena (Ram's army) believe that Valentine's Day celebration of love is an assault on indian-hindu culture which celebrates the KAMASUTRA! This Valentine's Day, in a move that is meant to leave these fascists red-faced, a campaign is on to gift them with carton loads of pink chaddis! A "consortium of pub-going, loose and forward women", still seething under their moral policing and hectoring, will collect chaddis (underwears) from across the country and courier them to the Sri Rama Sena's Bangalore office by V-Day. This is the revenge of the urban woman, 'pink undergarment' her symbol of annoyance. The [5]PINK CHADDI CAMPAIGN was kicked off on Febraury 5 to protest the Sena's warning against celebrating Valentine's Day and the attacks on women in Mangalore. Though it started off in the e-world among members of a social networking group, it has now taken a life of its own and is out on the streets. The group has been aptly named 'the consortium of pubgoing, loose and forward women' because that is how Sene wants to project them. The campaigners do not specify if the undergarment should be new, but people interested can drop 'pink chaddis' at the collection box. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Willyindia (talk • contribs) 17:07, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

sources at google news [6] Please pick a couple of the best sources, and then be bold and add it yourself to the article (under Valentine's_Day#Asia, add a paragraph about India with two sentences, three at most, it will probably be shortened later by other editors. If possible, make first a couple of sentences about how India is celebrated normally in the India, for reasons of balance of the article) --Enric Naval (talk) 03:12, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

I have added relevent matter concerning Hindu fundamentalists' trouble with good-old Valentine  Jon Ascton  (talk) 21:33, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Sepandarmazgan

If you can read the Iranian wikipedia reference supplied it states that Sepandarmazgan has nothing to do with it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepandarmazgan Reargun (talk) 12:42, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Archive

Who deleted the old posts and didn't create an archive link? JayKeaton (talk) 04:14, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

It was the archival bot. There is already an archive link, but it's not very visible, so I added an archivo box at the top left, near the content table --Enric Naval (talk) 05:48, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Valentine's Day/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

article receives frequent vandalism, this alone shows its importance. as for class, it needs references and could use a section on the commercial industry surrounding the holiday despite the separate article on that subject. Some thing 22:06, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 22:16, 6 March 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 20:56, 4 May 2016 (UTC)