...when I did what I wanted, thanks very much.

I want to talk about Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day, by the way.  Hope everybody had a good one.

Ok.  So I’m a woman.  Surprise!  But here’s the thing.  As a woman, I feel keenly the pressures of the whole feminism campaign.  I get it that once upon a time, women were basically persona non grata, but sometimes I think we’ve overreacted a little.  It’s not enough to just be a woman anymore.  Now we have to be empowered women.

And what is an empowered woman?  Only everything.  She is a) not so shallow as to care about her appearance or spend hours seeing to it, but still beautiful; b) a career woman with better things to do than keep a home, but still excellent at keeping a home; c) non-materialistic but still very coiffed and accessorized; d) completely content without male companionship, but irresistible to men; e) not crazy or high-maintenance (i.e. never asking for anything at all) while still valuing herself; and f) psychic.

“Psychic?” you might be asking.  Yes, psychic.

I’ll explain.

As part of the whole non-materialistic, not-high-maintenance bit, women are not supposed to say they want anything.  BUT, because they are irresistible and awesome besides, men are supposed to actually want to do things for them.  But everyone knows it’s only romantic to get what you want when you don’t tell a man what it is that you want.  So, the only thing left is for empowered women to be psychic.

Enter Valentine’s Day.  There’s more pressure in Valentine’s Day than any other holiday.  If you aren’t in a relationship, you feel like you should be, and if you are in a relationship, you feel like there’s some universal standard your relationship has to live up to.  Forgot the whole love, enjoying being in each other’s lives, thankful to have each other stuff.  That’s not important any more.  Now, it’s all about being “good enough.”  And, since we are supposed to be content without men, it’s almost as if we’re expected to demand what we are “worth.”  Like it’s somehow our fault if we settle for anything less.

Well, here's what I have to say about the empowered woman's Valentine's Day:

                            

So this year, I decided not to care about what I was SUPPOSED to do.  And wouldn't you know it?  I had a great time.