With Valentine's Day only a week or so away it is impossible to ignore the obligatory, obnoxious advertising that appears each year around this time. There's one billboard pushing diamonds that seems to be everywhere. The text reads: "She knows how much you love her. Now show the rest of the world." How sad.
Men shouldn't be pressured into buying expensive gifts for their wives and girlfriends to "prove" their love. It's pathetic that our culture has produced so many women who genuinely feel it's their due to receive material tokens of affection. Were they influenced by the advertising, or does the advertising just reflect the ethos of our society? I suspect it's the latter. It's a carryover from the days when women were expected to stay at home and be taken care of financially by men.
Today a surprising number of women have a strange, self-indulgent sense of entitlement when it comes to the dynamics of romantic involvement. They evaluate a prospective suitor on the basis of his material possessions and finances, expect the man to pay for all meals and entertainment when they are on a date, and then want their "love" to be rewarded with lavish presents periodically if they are in a commited relationship. This is particularly odd because women have equal opportunity in almost all education and career options in the United States. Women have demanded and earned the right to earn equal pay in this country so they should not be expecting men to literally buy their affection when they are dating or are in a relationship.
Certainly some couples mutually desire a relationship where the man is the financial provider and that is their prerogative. There is, however, a lot of inappropriate pressure placed on most men to provide monetarily for the women in their lives, even women they don't know that well. Women should be paying half the dating expenses. Even more importantly, maybe they should be viewing their boyfriends and husbands as emotional and spiritual partners rather than as meal tickets.
All the advertising I see and all the sentiments I hear many women expressing around Valentine's Day reaffirm my opinions within me each year. The ads attempt to remind men it's their duty to ply their women with flowers, jewelry, vacations, etc., and the women state openly what treatment they expect from their men on February 14. It's really sickening.
Sometimes I ponder why so many men have such anger at women in general. It seems that the money issue may be a huge factor. If I were a man it would piss me off too. More women need to step up to the plate and take care of themselves. We don't deserve to "be treated like princesses" as I often hear. We all have the means and opportunity to provide for ourselves financially, and men should not be expected to carry an unfair share of the burden unless they want to.

P.S. I don't hate Valentine's day. Sure, it's all a crass marketing ploy on the part of the retail industry, but it still can be a nice opportunity to give a loved one a special present. A poem, a flower, a card, or any gift from the heart is always wonderful. It just saddens me when I hear so many people who believe love should be expressed in a monetary or material fashion.