The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Hence Gingrich’s interest.

That is in point of fact one kick-ass tumblr.  Thank you.

Funny! In a sense all holidays are ‘scripted’ and sometimes I think independent thinkers take this critique too far “I don’t need a holiday to acknowledge the birth of Jesus” etc.

Valentines and Fathers/Mother’s Day I think are some of the worst because they are so guilt based.

And of course there’s the fact that Mother’s day was originally a ‘protest’ holiday in the sense that it was mother’s of dead soldiers calling attention to the high price of wars.

But seriously I keep hearing little bits of nerdery from Gingrich. First he was an amateur paleontologist, now he’s a wannabe terraformer. Next we’ll hear that he writes Supernatural slash fanfic.

I am half intrigued, but the fact that it’s Newt fucking Gingrich keeps me uninterested enough to hit his wiki.

Does anyone - apart from the greeting card companies, candy concerns, and other assorted economic powerhouses - really like Valentine’s Day? I mean, nobody goes rapturous over, say, Arbor Day or Labor Day, I know a lot of folks who genuinely dig on all the folderol that goes on around Christmas or Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. Hell, I’ve lived in two towns that go absolutely apeshit for Halloween. But I’ve never seen anyone even say anything positive about Valentine’s Day unless there’s money to be made. People are either outright hostile, completely miserable, or exasperated by its continued existence.

I don’t have a problem with social scripts, per se. What I have a problem with is social scripts that subtly promote toxic values. Valentine’s Day is one of those. The problem with the Valentine’s Day script is that it reinforces a number of notions I don’t like. I don’t want to take credit for the photo we did; while we jointly worked out the wording, it was Marc’s idea. He wanted to say that he disapproves of the way that Valentine’s Day subtly encourages the notion that it’s a special treat for a woman to get to go on a date and get special attention from her partner, when that should be something that you do because you just like it. I agree that it perversely reinforces the toxic “relationships are WORK” narrative that suggests that couples are basically co-workers trying to keep the monogamy train on the tracks, instead of pals who like to hang out and fuck.

And that’s on top of the heteronormativity, the pressure on single people to hook up and stop making the couples uncomfortable, the pressure on couples to become a nation of two, the upholding of patriarchy, etc.

I think Valentine’s Day is a nice excuse to have a special dinner, but almost every Friday night is an excuse for that in my book.  Oh, and an excuse to eat lots of chocolate and to watch Bringing Up Baby yet again.

I certainly don’t get stoked about Valentine’s Day the way I do about Christmas, or really at all, but I also think the overt hostility to it is getting boring.

This has been floating around for the past few days. It is definitely my top choice for which sitcom character most closely resembles Newt Gingrich. See also: Sady Doyle’s excellent article on Newt’s weirdness.

I can (and do) ignore most of the Vday nonsense, but what mystifies me is the random male coworker who buys blossoms for the ladies on that day. SRSLY, dude, you’re not making a pass, why use the trappings of a romantic overture? Oh, that’s right. So the girls will all get giddy and give you a cookie. Blerg.

Sorry to bore you, kesh, but the ramifications from what you think is just an “excuse” (do you need one?) to have fun are actually pretty serious. Gloating about how you’re above it all doesn’t really help much, and in my experience, isn’t as true as you think. We’re all capable of having our insecurities preyed upon, especially when it comes to sex and romance. Like I said, I was impressed and went along with Marc’s point about how V-Day encourages the American tendency to squeeze women for a bunch for a bunch of housework and emotional support and then act like giving her a couple of gifts a year makes up for it. (Mother’s Day has the same problem.) And it also reinforces the notion that there’s something wrong with you—-especially if you’re female—-if you’re single. That pressure pushes a lot of women to ignore serious warning signs and enter into and stay in bad relationships.

Pushing back against that is clearly a powerful act for a lot of people, judging by the response this Tumblr is getting. I see no reason to begrudge people that.

Not sure about man fantasy… women can dream with the last frontier too… ·_·

Ok they are weird as actual policy items… but as dreams, well…

*feels invalidated*

Yeah, I’m in the same place.  Of course, the context of Newt’s vision is 6 year olds doing janitorial work in their moon school.

Or, Newt Shrute. http://punditspew.com/post/16456279457/newt-gingrich-and-dwight-schrute-this-explains-everythin

you’re too busy having butt sex to worry about buying no-doubt non-sustainable flowers in a scripted act of relationship maintenance.

Aw, you guys really know me.

Jokey and weird V-day gifts can be fun, and a way to balance out the urge to consume/be sentimental (because it’s difficult to totally ignore it when everything around you is screaming “PINK FLOWERS HEARTS CHOCOLATES LOVE” in a way that brings back nostalgia for being a kid who accepted it wholeheartedly) with the intellectual impulse to reject the holiday. Regretsy has really tempted me to drop $5 on a Spandy Andy dance for my gentleman friend. There’s just something about that guy that’s sure to confuse/arouse/irritate/entertain him in equal measure.

Next we’ll hear that he writes Supernatural slash fanfic.

Don’t say that, even in jest! I used to be in SPN fandom and it brings up the remote possibility that I have ever praised Newt for anything.

I used to think I could just subvert V-Day by doing it “my way”, but that wasn’t very effective. Complete opt-out works much better. It disallows lingering anxieties to cling to even your attempt at subversive celebration.

Next: New Year’s Day. I hate all holidays where the dominant feeling is, “This should be more fun.”

Does anyone - apart from the greeting card companies, candy concerns, and other assorted economic powerhouses - really like Valentine’s Day? ... People are either outright hostile, completely miserable, or exasperated by its continued existence.

I have to wonder how much of that is resentment about it being perceived as a holiday in which the male half of a hetero couple is supposed to focus on pleasing the female half?  Outside feminist circles, it seems like it’s all “jokes” about the poor beleaguered bastard who has to come up with something truly special to appease the shrieking, irrational, unknowable harpy to whom he’s shackled.  I mean, even though the typical image of Valentine’s Day for an established couple ends with especially-sexy times, you still have the douchebag contingent trumpeting about the grudge-spawned dude-Valentine’s “Steak and Blowjob Day” in March.

Comment #15: Amanda Marcotte on 01/26

I thought we were all already opting out of New Year’s Day by getting shitfaced on New Year’s Eve?

I like Valentine’s Day… some restaurants have nice specials and they’re not in a hurry to shoo you out when you’re done eating so you can have a nice conversation.

I’d like Valentine’s more if it gave me a day off like New Year’s (and got me some awesome traditional Japanese food like New Year’s).

  Next we’ll hear that he writes Supernatural slash fanfic.

  Don’t say that, even in jest! I used to be in SPN fandom and it brings up the remote possibility that I have ever praised Newt for anything.

Oh come on, this Newt we’re talking about! If he’s into anything it’s real-person slash. He already has a mushy grasp of history based largely on selective memory and wishful thinking, and we know he tends to over-fixate on the potential sex lives of those in power. Then there is his uncanny ability to choose the least palatable aspect of a subject to win over an otherwise rabid fanbase… that man has some Thatcher/Reagan somewhere and if it’s ever discovered he’ll tell you how, as a young, hotshot congressman at the forefront of the Reagan revolution, he knows it totally went down.

About the steak and blowjob thing, is Valentine’s Day really a designated beaver-eating day for straight folks, or is that just supposed to be cute? From what I hear, most straight women give a whole lot more oral than they receive, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually have to designate a day for women to receive.

Gloating about how you’re above it all doesn’t really help much, and in my experience, isn’t as true as you think.

It’s the people engaging in overt hostility who are claiming to be above it all.

A few years ago, I started to become very unhappy and miserable about my seemingly never-ending singledom, but Valentine’s Day never affected me, because, as far as I can tell, most people don’t give much of a shit about it either way.  Pushing back against the holiday gives it more power than it deserves.

Do what you want with Valentine’s Day, though chocolate is all the sweeter on February 15 when it’s on sale. 

But there are some aspects of New Year’s Eve I like.  Fireworks!  Noise late at night!  Bars not closing!  We need all the light-in-the-dark we can get in midwinter, even if it comes along with a lot of amateur drinkers and partyers.

It’s Amateur Night for us old farts, just like NYE.

Do what you want with Valentine’s Day, though chocolate is all the sweeter on February 15 when it’s on sale.

My birthday is February 16th. My wife’s traditional present to me includes discount Valentine’s Day chocolate.

I always thought hypothetically that the thing for singles to do was to commemorate the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre instead by dressing up like 30’s era gangsters and molls. Then I remembered clothes shopping is the thing I hate most in the world and thought the better of it.

I still think it would be a cool way to celebrate. Possibly even for couples.

About the steak and blowjob thing, is Valentine’s Day really a designated beaver-eating day for straight folks, or is that just supposed to be cute? From what I hear, most straight women give a whole lot more oral than they receive, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually have to designate a day for women to receive.

I have never heard that before. What I’ve mostly heard is that Valentine’s Day is a designated romance day, and romance is for ladies who all like romance but who all hate sex, so it’s a lady holiday, so then men need a competing man holiday for things that all men like but all ladies hate, like sexual satisfaction. And high-protein food, apparently.

I’m going to spend Valentine’s Day hammering out my plans for Halloween in February (the theme of this year’s Wicked Faire), which is three days later. Halloween is way better than Valentine’s Day anyway.

Re:  Comment #18: Mighty Ponygirl on 01/26 at 11:00 PM

That’s about the opposite of how it feels in Silicon Valley.  It’s such a big night, they need to turn tables and make a profit.

I know a woman who has Steak and Slasher Day on V-day. Me, I just go for lonely, bitter and miserable.

I like Valentine’s Day… some restaurants have nice specials and they’re not in a hurry to shoo you out when you’re done eating so you can have a nice conversation.

there are restaurants that aren’t packed to the gills on VDay, with ridiculously long waiting-times even when you have a reservation, increasing stress for any and everyone involved?

Because if so, I’d like to know about them so that if/when I have to return to working in the service industry, I can get a job at one of those

I’m just going to leave this image here. It is relevant to gamer nerd pandagonians.

http://kajedheat.tumblr.com/post/16631147016/newt-wants-to-go-to-space-me-and-the-fella-are

Do you realize,” I said to my partner, “that you’ve sodomized an abortionist?”
BAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!  I’m with the I hate V-day contingent. To me it enforces the tired old trope of wimmins lovin flowers, candy hearts and romance, (cause we need(and love!) romance in order to have sex which the mens are obligated to provide or else they will Never Hear the End of It.
I feel the same way about Mothers day also.

Had no idea Chris Parnell was on 30 Rock. Dude was on SNL forever. I loved the old skits where he and Ana Gastyer tried to get kinky with a third person and failed.

Well, Valentine’s Day is my birthday, so yes, I get excited about it. I’m annoyed by the commercialism, but I always pretend that it’s really a holiday all about me (and my cousin born exactly five years before me). So I’m afraid that I can’t be too cynical about the holiday.

My girlfriend also likes the day, and we live in different towns and don’t see each other nearly as often as we’d like to. So it’s an excuse to send a card or make time to visit. “I want two days off to see my girlfriend for V-Day, which is also my birthday,” has a little more social punch with, say, my boss, than just “I want two days off.” We’re also in a same-sex relationship, so I feel that we are just as allowed to send silly cards and eat candy in each other’s honour as any straight couple.

None of this means that the holiday is a useful or non-patriarchal one. It does mean that I have to stay away from all the people slagging off Valentine’s Day, though, because it’s my birthday, and my birthday makes me happy.