Ladies – give your man his due on March 14

It is true ladies, March 14th is around the corner and it is a day you must take seriously!

Just like February 14thValentine’s Day, March 14th is a day that presents the opportunity to celebrate the special men in our life.

Why do we need a day to celebrate men when we have February 14thValentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day has evolved over many years in many cultures. It was originally declared a day of romance in the 14th century for couples. Due to the many cultural differences that exist, the holiday is celebrated differently in every country. In western culture, it was discovered that the men were the ones who spent more time and resources in picking out a gift for their loved one. The implication is that the holiday became centred on only females in those cultures.

This imbalance is clearly seen in the sales records of stores and surveys conducted in schools. The idea to create a valentine’s day for guys was a result of this imbalance so that females will have one day to themselves to be fully appreciated and males will have another day to themselves for the same purpose.

The choice for March 14th- a month later was motivated by the ‘white day’, a holiday in Asian countries that originated as a result of the imbalance that existed in their own celebration of Valentine’s Day. In those countries, the women were the ones who spent more during the holiday, the holiday was centred on men. On March 14 men were expected to return the favour by appreciating the women in order to create a balance. This creation was motivated by the Asian customs and etiquette that expects one to return a favour received in order to recreate that good feeling one gets by being loved.

In the USA, some men began protesting because of the perceived imbalance, that they also needed a day set for them to be appreciated by women.

This led to an interesting incident in 2002, when 'jokingly', a male radio station DJ talked about the creation of a day for the appreciation of males. The holiday was supposed to be on March 14th just like the ‘white day’.

This would’ve been successful if not for the name given to the day. The name which was considered an ‘adult name’ was rejected among many circles and is hardly mentioned. Because of this, the movement was brought to an abrupt end as newspapers and radio stations and other media outlets were unable to disseminate the news about the holiday.

It was then that LoveWorks® came on to the scene. After their research, they concluded that the day could only be successful if it could be presented as a family-friendly day on which anyone can participate regardless of age or background.

Their involvement gave birth to the 'National Guy’s Valentine’s Day'. This triggered so many positive reactions from people of different age groups and backgrounds and further highlighted why the first creation had failed. It wasn’t that people were disinterested or blind to the imbalance, it was a case of right motive, wrong delivery.

LoveWorks® is doing everything to get more people to participate in order to make it a world-acclaimed holiday. They do this because according to them men rarely get the attention they need from their family or partner but will never mention their needing it. This is due to many factors, the most prevalent being the ‘macho concept’ that was sold to them as kids.

March 14th National Guy’s Valentine’s Day like the February 14thValentine’s Day is not just a day for people in romantic relationships. In 2020, about 50% of all the purchase made during the love season were by people not in a romantic relationship. That’s a positive development. It is expected that the National Guy’s Valentine’s Day will follow suit.

It is meant to be a day of happiness and fun, where we get to celebrate those special men in our lives, our fathers, our loving brother, our partners, our boyfriends, that funny classmate, colleagues, best friends or even our neighbour. Anyone!

It may interest you to know that despite their never mentioning it, the number one complaint received from men by relationship counsellors is lack of feeling appreciated.

So, ladies, it’s time for you to take charge, make the dinner reservations, take the boys out for a game, go shopping, spend time with them, anything just to show take are happy and proud to have these heroes n your life.