Part of the Sac State community seems to think Valentine’s Day has grown into a superficial holiday disguised as a heartfelt celebration.

Perhaps a short history lesson could shed some light on the subject.

Although the exact origins of Valentine’s Day are still debated, historians and scholars tend to generally agree the holiday dates back to the Roman Empire and possibly even before.

The most popular origin story is tied to Saint Valentine, a priest who secretly married young soldiers and illegally ministered to Christians. According to the History Channel, he was eventually imprisoned and executed – but not before sending the first Valentine to his lover – hence the continued tradition.

Professor of humanities and religious studies Judy Thoma, who teaches a course on classical mythology at Sac State, said another theory attributes Valentine’s Day to a pagan ritual called Lupercalia.

Legend has it that during the month of February, ancient Romans made animal sacrifices and had young naked boys run through the streets whipping women with strips of goat hide (skin) to ensure fertility. Once Rome became Christianized, however, the ritual was deemed unacceptable and necessarily altered to reflect a Christian focus. Eventually it progressed into what we now recognize as Valentine’s Day.

Whether it came about through a martyr’s death or a festival of goat lashes, Valentine’s Day has undeniably evolved into one of the most recognized and commercially viable holidays in American culture.

Josh Johnstone, an adjunct marketing professor at Sac State, said Valentine’s Day is one of the top three holidays currently celebrated in the United States.

Johnstone said advertising plays a key role in people’s interpretation and reaction to the lovers’ holiday.

“Advertising is probably the No. 1 driver for how people embrace Valentine’s Day,” Johnstone said. “We’re led to believe if you love someone, then you have to buy them a gift to prove it.”

Johnstone noted there was a wide mix of target audiences within the Valentine’s Day market, ranging from young men to older women depending on the product for sale but, surprisingly, past students of Johnstone’s appeared to see no inherent value in the custom of gift-giving.

Based on previous polls conducted in his marketing classes, Johnstone said a majority of men and women did not think buying gifts for a significant other was meaningful or important. He added that a possible reason so many people buy into this notion could lie in their conditioning as part of a consumer-oriented society.

According to a Time Magazine article titled “Valentine’s Day 2012, by the Numbers,” the average expected amount, per person, Americans would spend on gifts was about $126.03 – 8.5 percent higher than 2011 sales. The average number of Valentine’s Day cards bought was around 72 million, making up 65 percent of all Valentine’s-related gifts.

At the Arden Fair Mall, Hallmark store manager Jlynn Hatch expected Valentine’s Day 2013 greeting card sales to jump significantly from last year’s.

Hatch said the fact it fell on a Thursday this year gave customers more time to run in and pick up a card on the day off. Hatch did not give exact estimations.

Senior health science major Candice Gniech agreed that Valentine’s Day represents a commercial holiday more than anything.

“When I think of Valentine’s Day, I think of Wal-Mart and Target just full of the color pink,” Gniech said. “I know that’s a very negative view, but I think if you love somebody and you want to show them that you care, you should show them you care any day in the year… People are just so wrapped up with buying things.”

Sam Skow, a senior history major, said he was a bit more cynical in his view toward the day of romance.

“Valentine’s Day is a farce,” Skow said. “It’s a ploy to sell chocolates and flowers to needy, co-dependent people and to make single people feel less worthy.”

Skow said he had been married for three years, claiming the two of them never celebrated a single Valentine’s Day to date.

Junior psychology major Bianca Posada said she was anxious about her boyfriend’s plans.

“It’s so stressful because I’ve been thinking of what to do,” Posada said. “I’m afraid I’m going to have high expectations for him to do something and I don’t want to be let down if he doesn’t.”

While many are skeptical about the underlying motives behind Valentine’s Day, Professor Thoma said people should enjoy it for what it is.

“It’s easy to dismiss this holiday as superficial, but I think the fact that we choose to perpetuate and even expand the rituals associated with Valentine’s Day suggests we need reasons to celebrate,” Thoma said. “Love and friendship are important expressions of the human experience that we are often too busy to appreciate day-to-day. This holiday inspires us to acknowledge the special people in our lives and have fun with it.”