On Valentine’s Day this year, I experienced the largest epiphany of my college journey thus far. Valentine’s Day is about love — we all know that. And a lot of people classify the day as the day to celebrate one’s relationship with their significant other. But as a person who has been single their whole life, I can tell you that Valentine’s Day does not just have to be about the power of love for someone else — it can be about the love that you have for yourself. OK, so maybe it wasn’t that big of an epiphany, but it was important for me, especially as a female college student who undergoes various “tests” by society every single day.
It’s 2018, and women are still being looked down upon as if they embrace exactly who they are. As soon as a woman is brought into this world, she has to fit every box that society puts her in. What has always confused me is the way women are viewed. Women have always been seen as these objectifiable icons of purity, but why can’t a woman wear whatever she wants or have any kind of relationship she wants without being overanalyzed and criticized by society?
If you couldn’t already tell, I am unapologetically feminist, and I have always been this way. Growing up with two identities: my heritage from my Indian immigrant parents and the aesthetic of American lifestyle, I have always been conflicted as to how I should live my life. But one factor remains the same — I have to be and act a certain way because I am a woman. As a college student, I think it’s even more prevalent than before. Men can have numerous partners and be called a stud, but if a woman does the same thing, she is objectified by society.
This weekend, BU students put on “The Vagina Monologues,” a play by Eve Ensler that sheds light on various sexual experiences encountered by various women from different ages, backgrounds and races. While I didn’t get to watch the play, I spent my Valentine’s Day embracing what makes me who I am. I also learned that Eve Ensler created the global activist movement called V-Day. V-Day, held every Feb. 14, celebrates women and fights against sexual violence. It’s an incredible way for women to come together with their experiences and to be empowered together.
For almost my entire life, I never liked Valentine’s Day. It’s so bizarre that there’s a day listed in the calendar year that people are required to gift material items to their significant others, but that was before I came to college and realized that not everything I do has to be for another person. On Valentine’s Day, just like the rest of the year, I’m empowered to embrace myself and to experience my life the way I want to do, without being picked and prodded by society. I did just start college, and I know that I have to do a lot more growing. But in the meantime, I have figured out that I’m not alone in my quest to be unapologetically myself, and I think that’s something worth talking about.
