Every February 14, Americans buy roses, swap cards, book dinner reservations, and post heart emojis like it’s a civic duty. But Valentine’s Day didn’t start with chocolate boxes or candlelit restaurants. It began with a martyr. Possibly several martyrs. And along the way, medieval poetry, Victorian craft culture, and American industrial capitalism quietly reshaped it … Continue reading History of St. Valentine’s Day
Category: History
The Discipline of Desire: How Moral Codes Keep Making Filth
We're living, once again, in the era of artistic repression, and here's the thing about that - repression never actually cleanses, it just curdles and simmers and finds ways to leak and bleed its way out again. It seems that every generation invents new ways to convince itself that it’s protecting innocence, and every generation … Continue reading The Discipline of Desire: How Moral Codes Keep Making Filth
Notes in the Margins 