By Loren Rhoades, Assistant Features Editor (Courtesy Photo/www.entitymag.com)
In a season filled with red roses and commercialized romance, there is a new reason for celebration. Women across the U.S., as well as on OBU’s campus, have started taking part in celebrating not Valentine’s Day, but Galentine’s Day.
Galentine’s Day is an unofficial holiday on February 13th that came about in the popular television series “Parks and Recreation, w”hen, in 2010, the character Leslie Knope felt the urge to create a day to celebrate the ladies in her life.
“Leslie, creative and crafty and bursting with kindness for the people she loves, invented a way to do something American culture hadn’t traditionally been too good at doing: celebrating, in an official capacity, the joys of female friendship,” said Megan Garber in her “The Atlantic” article “Galentine’s Day: How a Beloved Fiction Became a Beloved Tradition.”
Different RA’s on OBU’s campus have started to embrace this trend and are planning Galentine’s Day celebrations of their own. As of right now, there will be Galentine’s events in the West U Apartments, WMU, and the Taylor Dormitory on February 14th and 15th.
“We felt this was a good way to have community among our girls,” senior communications major Anna Chandler said. “We want to show that Valentine’s Day isn’t just for significant others, it’s for the people you love.”
Chandler said the events will have everything from Valentine’s day themed games to a chick flick watch party.
“We just wanted it to be a time for girls to get together, eat fun snacks, and maybe make some Valentine’s cards for each other,” said junior graphic design major Rachel Witt.
Each event will be specifically geared towards the idea that having a good time with a few girlfriends is just as important as it is with a significant other.
“It’s good because I think freshman year especially girls really want to be in relationships, and it sucks when you’re not, but you need to have your girlfriends and just have a good time together,” Witt said.
Single or not, this is a day that can be celebrated by all women. This holiday is meant for ladies to embrace the love they can give and are given by each other. Some look at this season as a time of sadness, because of the lack of being in a romantic relationship, but that doesn’t have to be the focus. Platonic relationships can be just as meaningful as a relationship between romantic partners.
“There is a lot of negative connotation with Valentine’s Day in general, because it is pretty commercialized and if you are single it seems like the worst time ever,” news and information major Olivianna Calmes said. “So, I think if they have Galentine’s it’s a good way to just focus on their friends and to show them that they care.”
There is no one way to celebrate this special occasion. Certain ways might include having gift exchanges, surprising a friend with their favorite meal, or writing them a thoughtful letter to show them how much you love and appreciate them.
But, this love doesn’t have to only be shared during the Valentine’s and Galentine’s Day season. Galentine’s proves it is possible for females to be the ones to lift each other up, but this type of compassion can be shared every day of the year.
“It is a holiday about love, and you should do what the bible says and love whoever you want to love on through various things, but I also think you should do that in everyday life,” said freshman family community service major Cameron Denno.
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