Yup, today's that day when MEN give gifts to WOMEN as a way of expressing their feelings of love and affection. Usually they are flowers or chocolate; sometimes it's a bit more but in general it's the boys who shower their girlfriends with gifts and all is lovey-dovey, full of hearts, full of kisses, and well... all is rosey, even though it's so commercial these days that the clued up people get pissed off with "Hallmark" ads that bombard our airwaves as soon as the Christmas/New Years' fever is over.
Well, gentlemen of the West, and anywhere on this planet where my previous discription is the "norm" I am going to reveal to you what "equal rights" and "feminist movements" perversly misinterpreted by the commerecial sector, and by stubborn, sexist men have manifested in my country: "Balenta'in Day (Valentine Day)" and "Howaito Day (White Day)".
So what happens on Balenta'in Day in Japan? Women give out chocolate to men. And there are two types of "gifts": "Honmei" chocolate, and "Giri-choco". Women give out Honmei chocolate to their boyfriends, husbands, and basically men that they have a romantic interest in, and the Giri-choco is handed out to any bloke that you know -- usually it's given out to your colleagues, casual friends, school mates, etc. It sounds crazy when considering that among the developed nations the average income of a woman is only 55% that of men according to the World Bank's World Development Report (2003, I think, but let me confirm...) So basically we earn less than men and have to hand out chocolate to the male population like the World Food Program hands out rice and grains to developing countries. And just like these "International Funding" organisations, (and life in general, I guess) nothing is given out for free - especially the "Giri-choco". The word "Giri", literally translated to "duty of gratitude" implies that there are strings attached to the Godiva truffles that are handed to you.
And that's where "Howaito Day" comes into play.
"Howaito Day" (white day) is on March 14th, and this is the day when the men who received the chocolate bonbons give the low income earners (that's women to you) chocolates in return. And in general we receive white chocolate just to go with the name of the "honourable payback day". How fucked is that?! I knew that we lived in a hyper consumerist society, but using a saint's day to sell chocolate, flowers, and cards AND creating another non-existing saint's day to sell even MORE commodities!!!
(I wonder if the Vatican gets kick-backs from Hallmark, Godiva, and all the rose growers' association/lobby group?)
And if anyone's wondering? NO! I didn't give out a single thing today (apart from my piece of mind on the matter of cheesy, phoney meanlingless customs), because unlike last year, this year I don't have anyone to give a proper valentine's gift: the one with no strings attached.
(again...)
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p.s. Just wanted to make sure that I didn't offend any of my homosexual friends who exchange gifts to people of the same gender during valentines. That's the norm for them, and I think it's wonderful, as long as they are not Giri-Choco with a hidden agenda of expecting something in return.
Regardless of sexuality, I get pissed off when people give presents expecting something in return. It's not honest, nor is it sincere. So for all gay and straight couples who genuinely gave out valentines gifts -- Hooray for you! Personally, I would like valentines to not have a fixed date, coz I like giving gifts to people I love spontaneously... just because they are special.
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