Will men be more romantic than women this Valentine’s Day?

February 1st, 2009 by Graham

Will men be more romantic than women this Valentines Day? Two weeks to go until Valentine’s Day, and I find that I’m asking myself… are men more romantic than women?

All the obvious evidence would suggest, no. After all, the typical profile of the person who buys Mills & Boon romances, or queues up for the latest chick-flick, is definitely female.

If you had the choice you’d rather watch a movie with some interesting characters and some emotional content than a Keanu Reeves CGI blockbuster, right girls?

But then I came across this survey by Google.

They polled over 2200 adults, and while there’s some good news (43% of those who are buying Valentine’s gifts are buying more than one present for their loved one) there are also some surprises.

For instance, 55% of men indicated that they plan to buy a Valentine’s Day gift for their spouse, compared with 44% of women.

Now, I’m not a believer in giving gifts just so you can receive one in return. That’s not in the spirit of present-giving at all. But imagine how those 11% of men are going to feel when they give a Valentine’s gift and their wife or girlfriend hasn’t thought of organising something in return!

Or is it that some of these men are giving presents because they just know they’re in the doghouse for some misdemeanour and they think a hastily-grabbed bunch of chrysanthemums from the garage forecourt will fix everything?

Whatever the real reason – men, don’t let down your loved ones with a thoughtless Valentine’s Day gift this year. It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford diamonds, a cashmere wrap or a romantic city getaway, just make sure that whatever you do, you do it with some thought rather than fulfilling the Valentine contract with a last minute grab at the 7-11 on the way home.

And wives and girlfriends, stop letting the fairer sex down. Men aren’t easily the most emotionally eloquent people on the planet, but if they’ve gone to an effort this year make sure you’re doing your bit to ensure that the percentage of women giving Valentine’s Day gifts is on the rise.