Valentine’s Day becoming more inclusive: UCalgary researcher

As the world is becoming more inclusive, so is Valentine’s Day, and researchers at the University of Calgary (UCalgary) say the lovers’ holiday isn’t for couples anymore.

Dr. Hetty Roessingh, a professor emerita at the Werklund School of Education at the UCalgary, says Valentine’s Day can be an opportunity to tell people we love them and how important they are to us.

She says we don’t tell people these things enough, and the day is another opportunity to do so.

“The idea of this day is to spread love, whether it’s platonic, its friendship, same-sex partners, something for your pets, your parents or anybody who is on your mind, who you have feelings for that you want to express. Handwriting a Valentine’s Day card can change your life forever,” she told CityNews.

Roessingh says there is a difference between handwriting a letter to loved ones and typing them out in an email or message online.

“If you write a card with the words ‘I love you,’ it evokes very positive hormones, dopamines in your blood. Both you and the receiver of that message are changed forever,” Roessingh said.

“If I type ‘I love you’ or ‘I hate you,’ fingers only know that you touched the keys. If you actually write ‘love’ on a paper card, now you are engaged. You are creating neuro-circuitry and feel-good hormones in your body. When that card is opened by someone in a mailbox, the effect is a mutually shared one.”

Valentine’s Day cards see inclusive change

Greeting cards are also getting a makeover in an attempt to change the reputation behind this hallmark day.

A new series of inclusive greeting cards specially designed for Valentine’s Day has recently been launched by a Canadian store.

Titled “Cards for All,” 100 per cent of the sale proceeds will go to the charity United Way.

Instead of gearing to the masses with a cupid-cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all assortment of cards, this collection speaks to diverse lifestyles and modern global issues to share the message that simply love is love.

These kinds of inclusive greeting cards have started a conversation about how inclusive our society has become.

Valentine’s Day cards inside a London Drugs in Calgary on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. (Henna Saeed, CityNews photo)

Researchers have not been able to agree on the origin of Valentine’s Day, the story suggests St. Valentine sent a letter to his lady love on Feb. 14, and that set an annual tradition to celebrate love.

While the holiday started off with a man’s love for a woman, sexuality researchers like Dr. Safaneh Mohaghegh Neyshabouri, an assistant professor of women’s and sexuality studies at UCalgary, says inclusion will always be resisted by certain people.

“There will be resistance because there’s always people who feel uncomfortable with the change in tradition. This inclusive change in the society is a result of early education and media,” said Dr. Mohaghegh.

“They are learning at school about this. Even if you look at the Disney cartoons that have been made, like Frozen, which is about two sisters’ love, I think that’s why the new generation is more open to the idea of universal love, and it’s becoming more inclusive. They realize that romantic love between the couple is not the only form of love that deserves celebration.”

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Roessingh says Canada has grown as a society and has become an inclusive one.

“We have changed, we have evolved, we are different now than we were 10 years, 15 years ago. And so maybe even more so, the idea of creating community, taking a moment to celebrate the idea that we are now diverse, we need to be more inclusive with how we connect with a broader circle of people,” said Roessingh.