Is there any dispute that Valentine’s day is a holiday for women? Let’s mark the one year anniversary of Man Up by exploring whether or not room exist for men to be honored on the love holiday.
If it’s a matter of dollars and cents, the scale tilts toward women. In 2013, men spent twice as much as women on gifts for V-day at a rate of $108 to $53. Flowers and jewelry tend to push up the cost for men while women don’t usually buys those items. Though in one survey, 14% of women said that they would send flowers to themselves. Interesting.
Known as a day when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts, V-day has morphed into something that is less equitable among the sexes and far more commercial in nature. So much so that spending is in excess of $18 billion annually.
How is it less equitable? Among those participating in the holiday, 64% men will purchase flowers while only 36% women will do the same. I mean can a brother get some flowers? I like flowers. They are pretty and they smell good. I like pretty, good smelling things.
Perhaps the issue is that women just don’t know what men want.
I reached out to a few fellas to find out what they would like from their partners and here’s what they said:
“Some good ole fashioned booty with no excuses” (yeah, I promised anonymity and that’s what I got), “time alone to have some adult conversation”, “hot oil massage…maybe a happy ending” (you can’t make this shit up), “chocolate, a couples massage and cap it off with dinner” (my kind of date, maybe I’ll give him a call), “a hand-written note saying how much she appreciates all the things…listing out what I’ve done over the year…cooking my favorite meal…and a quiet night in front of the fire with a glass of Zin” (he doesn’t ask for much, does he?), “cook my favorite meal…and a pedicure” ( I kid you not. He said that!).
The group conversation took an interesting turn to mani/pedis and his/her mani/pedis and things got weird from that point on.
My point is that men are ladies too. We want to be thought of, appreciated, loved, cherished and nurtured too. And according to the men in my highly scientific study, a mani/pedi just might get the job done.
My wife Angela asked me over the weekend what I wanted for Valentine’s Day. I was more than a little surprised since I haven’t received a gift since…never. I was so shocked that I don’t think I even responded. If I had, I might have said some flowers, or a slate grey narrow tie, or a bottle wine that she personally chose, or an evening of fire, wine and nibbles. If I could have responded, I might have chosen any one of those things. The truth is, though, “no excuses, no strings attached, good ole fashioned booty” sounds pretty damn good to me.
So how about it ladies. Step up and do something nice for your man this Valentine’s day. The she in him deserves it.