The Perks of being an anti-Valentine

Whether you call it "Single Awareness Day" or celebrate Valentine's Day for what it is, let me just ruin the day after V-Day with my bitter-single-woman ravings.
To be fair, it's not the worst time of year but nonetheless, it is up there with things like Hitler's birthday and I hate V-Day for two unorthodox (but right) reasons.

1. There's this expectancy that if you're in a relationship, you then have to get your partner a gift of some ostentatious standard; failure to do so results in your name being written on a blacklist composed by your partner and the pedantic people in society. It's horrible to think that perhaps one day I'll receive a teddy bear or a box of chocolates on any given February 14 simply because he felt as though he had to give it to me. Which is I suppose all in the name of good intentions, but if you're going to exhibit your love to someone in the form of a teddy (or anything, really), then why confine it to Valentine's Day, otherwise known as the day everyone else gives each other teddy bears. It's too mainstream and it puts pressure on your partner to do this for you when what they could be doing is surprising you with a teddy bear at any other given time of the year. Because if it's a gift on V-Day, it's normal. Then compare it to a gift on a random day and watch how quickly that becomes more romantic/spontaneous.
2. The commercialism and generic-ness behind the gift and date options. Much of the hatred of the motive behind this reason is due to the fact that everything that people adore about V-Day can be seen in movies and wherever you go in the shops. You cannot seem to go anywhere without being bombarded by discounts on flowers, chocolates, cuddly toys and sexy lingerie. For some people it must be nice to receive a beautiful flower or a new pair of knickers, but to this little pessimist, all that I can think of is all those people with lactose intolerance who cannot eat the chocolate they've been given. Or those who cannot hug the teddy or wear the knickers or smell the lilies because they will get a rash if they do. And the stereotype of going to a restaurant or a movie for the date... whatever happened to the romance found in something like hunting or something that is perhaps more sentimental or related to a passionate interest you share?
3. The bitter females (of any age) who are too single to afford a relationship. We live in an age where feminism is legal, and to have it is a symbol of empowerment. If this is the case, why is it that we see all these single ladies complaining via social media (or the public scowl on their face) about the fact that they either don't approve of the happy couples or the fact that V-Day pays little/no attention to the single Pringles? It's apparent that they haven't grasped that V-Day is almost exclusively a day for lovers. Solving the problem of V-Day is simple: create a holiday for singles where singles can give themselves gifts to celebrate how much they love themselves. Or does that sound too much like their everyday lives?

All the inane cuddling in the streets and those love quotes on Facebook and $5 cards surprisingly don't pose as an extreme source of personal irritation. In the long run, the public displays of sentiment bring with them this one advantage: like Christmas, they come but once a year. Then everyone, regardless of whether they celebrated or not, goes back to living their lives.

Happy post-V-Day to all the singles, the couples and all those in-between. There may be no romantic attachment between us, but I still love you all.