Galentine’s Day, celebrated on February 13th, is quite possibly the best holiday… ever. You’ll find the birth of Galentine’s Day in season 2, episode 16 of Parks and Recreation. This workplace comedy follows Leslie Knope, a brilliant feminist who loves waffles and civic duty, and her coworkers as they tackle the challenges of local government in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana. While Parks and Recreation, which ended in 2015, brought us laughs and lovable characters, it most importantly brought us Galentine’s Day.
Leslie Knope describes Galentine’s Day like this: “What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, Leslie Knope and her lady friends leave their husbands and their boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus, frittatas!”
Basically, Galentine’s Day is a day to celebrate your friendship with other women. It’s a day to eat brunch, talk about life, and tell love stories about old flings. In this episode of Parks and Recreation, Leslie’s mom tells a story about her long lost love. In the end, they reunite the two past lovers with hilarious consequences.
Galentine’s Day fills a gap in our list of holidays. Thanksgiving is for the family. Halloween is for the candy. Valentine’s Day is for the couples. And now, thanks to Leslie Knope and her friends, we have Galentine’s Day, a day for celebrating women.
Girl love is one of the most important things in the world. Women supporting women provide sisterhood and unity. If we all work to amplify other women, we are in turn amplified. Galentine’s Day opens the door for these conversations about woman love and empowerment. It opens the door for the unity that will bring equity and equality, the unity that will fight against the patriarchy and forever uplift our sisters.
This year, celebrate Galentine’s Day because, as Leslie Knope said, “Uteruses before duderuses…Ovaries before brovaries.” Oh, and also, “No one achieves anything alone.”
