ABSTRACT
Valentine's Day we tend to recognize anniversaries of romantic commitments in a way that we don't with other forms of relationship, with precious jewels and metals associated with reaching certain five and ten year points together. Valentine's Day was part of a tuition into the vital importance of finding The One' and the sense of failure and self-doubt that accompanied not being able to do so. Valentine's Day usefully reminds us that the kind of romantic love that is assumed is heterosexual. The majority of cards depict images of heterosexual couples, or male and female animals, soft toys, and the like, in the same way that anniversary cards are almost entirely designed to be from a wife/girlfriend to a husband/boyfriend or vice versa. Romantic love is intrinsically linked to sexual love, and popular Valentine's gifts include both the sappy and the sexy.
