Is the Language of Love Universal?

As Valentines day came and passed, I started wondering...is the display and understanding of love universal or do localities have a stronger affect on the culture, especially the expression, of love? With my random ruminations and limited analysis of two distinct cultures during Valentine's Day, my conclusion to the question, Is love a completely biological and internal 'thing'?, is...sorta, not really.

Matchy matchy...look at those pink headbands!



















I've been in two different countries on Valentines Day, USA and HK. I've noticed that both cultures highly commercialize this holiday but in completely different ways. As a single researcher in both countries, I noticed a different commercialized push during Valentines, one for internal completeness and the other for social worth. Both show us that buying flashy, sentimental, or sexy gifts is what we should do if we want to make ourselves and our partner happy. Buying stuff shows that we care (about the relationship or displaying that we're in a relationship). Not buying something for someone on Valentine's Day can imply that you're missing out emotionally (what I noticed in the US) or socially (analysis in HK).

A Western ideal of Valentine's love?

Eastern ideals of Valentine display? Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Everyone, in whatever culture, wants to feel like someone gives a damn. But for some cultures it's more for social one-up-manship or keeping up with the Joneses (you're a better citizen, woman, or man), while others it's for the notion that it makes you a better individual. With commercialism, buying or receiving something on Valentine's Day gives you a feeling or acceptance of worth, whether it's social or internal.

Although I've only experienced Valentines Day in the US and HK, I have seen the culture of affection in at least eleven distinct cultures. Having a Valentines symbols "I am desirable" "I am amazing enough to be loved" "I am worth enough for someone to think about giving me this gift."

My roomies (from HK and Mainland China) told me that there are a lot of breakups after Valentine's Day in HK. Girls getting a bouquet of flowers much smaller than others', or none at all, was the reason for many of these splits. Walking around HK on Valentine's Day was very different than anything I was used to. Every other girl was toting around a bouquet of flowers. They were not embarassed or weighed down by this display like many Americans would be walking around with a massive bunch of flowers. They flaunted. Valentine's was a social display of worth. Same same but different?

Heavy, but worth it.