Stupid cupid: Who needs Valentine’s Day?

Jenny Andrew believes in love, but not in a single day dedicated to grand gestures

It's not that I don't believe in love, but the rampant commercialisation of Valentine's Day just leaves me cold. The stores have only just stopped playing Christmas jingles and started marking down Christmas decorations, when the shelves are groaning with Valentine's gifts.

Restaurants are fully booked weeks in advance, prices skyrocket, jewellers set out enticing displays, and "his and hers" fragrances are big sellers. Once I had to purchase two dozen long-stemmed red roses for a photo shoot in February, and I paid four times the going rate!

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The 90's were the heydays of slogan T-shirts, and one of my favourites in neon pink read "Stupid Cupid - who needs love", which I enjoyed wearing under a black fishnet top for the ultimate swag. I loved the anti-establishment cynicism of the saying.

Nevertheless, I do believe in love, and I think everyone deserves to love and be loved; it's only the crass commercialisation of love that I abhor. I don't think you need expensive gifts, lavish lingerie, overpriced chocolates, extravagant "romantic" dinners or elaborate flower arrangements to prove your love.

I especially don't think that romantic gifts should be limited to only one day in the year. Kindness and appreciation should be part of expressing love all year long. The smallest things should count as much as the grand gesture. Valentine's Day as it stands can lead to a lot of misery when expectations are set so high. When did the exchange of pretty cards with coy verses go out of fashion? Businesses are cashing in on the demands couples are facing to prove their love in a material way. I personally will avoid restaurants and shopping malls like the plague until Valentine's Day is over.

The current pressure around Valentine's Day makes me yearn for simpler times. When I was a teenager at boarding school Valentine's cards were all the rage, and the only token of love exchanged. The week leading up to Valentine's Day was highly charged with much anticipation and speculation. The cards were handed out after breakfast in the dining room in front of the entire school.

I don't know how such a nasty system developed, the popular girls always had a fistful of envelopes, while the mousy girls were at times ignored completely, coming away empty-handed. A emotional combination of tears or smug jubilation followed the opening of the cards, amid much gossip about who sent them. I was saved from outright humiliation by a loving grandmother who ensured that I received at least one Valentine's card every year. Simpler times indeed, but the mean girls still ruled.