On February 14th, more than any other day of the year, romantic couples shower their better half with gifts as a way of celebrating Valentine’s Day. Many refer to this day as the “Day of Love.” Though there are several stories revolving to the history of Valentine’s Day……most of us jump on the Bandwagon and celebrate it.

This is a day that most relationships come to an end, more so in this era where people are dating multiple partners at a go, hence they can’t keep up with the trend of spending the entire day with their “better half”. Lots of people can relate to the ‘Nairobi’ hit song by Bensoul featuring Mejja, Nvirii the storyteller and Sauti Sol. This song paints out how our relationships have evolved in society as compared to the traditional style of dating.

This shows how cheating has been normalised and loyalty is hard to find. In relationships, the existence of loyalty is absolutely paramount. Loyalty to your partner contributes to the relationship’s success. In this day and age, temptation is everywhere and quite frankly, it’s easy for people to be disloyal if they choose to. In any relationship, it’s important for both parties to be on the same page about loyalty, what loyalty means and why loyalty is critical in relationships.

That aside, I pause and ask myself: Is Valentine’s Day a woman’s holiday? It may appear a difficult argument for some that the day is for men as well. The traditional gifts of roses and chocolates, the general theme of love and romance - these are things that society largely views (and media largely depicts) as female desires and pursuits. It is seen as a day when boyfriends/men should spoil their girlfriends, when in reality it should be seen as a celebration of all kinds of love.

At the present, the internet is buzzing with “where to take her” for Valentine’s Day and “what to gift her”. It’s unavoidable that the day has grown to be associated with women, a stereotype that the woman needs to be doted on more than the man. Women tend to celebrate the day more emphatically than men when it comes to the number of gifts purchased for lovers and friends, while men tend to purchase less heavily but spend more money on what they buy.

With all the emphasis on Valentine’s Day being a girl’s holiday, many lose sight of how much work the guy puts in to make this special for her. This should be considered a guy’s holiday because of his role in pleasing his significant other. I can only imagine the pressure that comes with roses to buy, dinners to plan, what size of bear to give or jewellery. And in most cases, the guy does not get credit for the effort put in.

Valentine’s Day should not be centered on women, rather this day should be for both halves of every couple, despite whatever gender we associate it with cut-out hearts and the colour pink