How to Break Up with Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend on Valentine's Day

So you want to break up on Valentine's Day?

There isn't any other day of the year more romantic to break up on than Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day, after all, celebrates St. Valentine, a priest who secretly married lovers in Rome during the reign of the ruthless emperor named Claudius II, who had outlawed marriage in order to better recruit soldiers for his army. For his efforts, St. Valentine was imprisoned, clubbed, and eventually beheaded on the date we know today as Valentine's Day, proving once and for all that romance can sometimes result in you losing your head.

Short of beheading your significant other, there are many other ways to cut loose of a dead end relationship, and breaking up on or near Valentine's Day shows an extraordinary amount of courage that any reasonably minded person would and should admire. For one, the desire to terminate a relationship illustrates an admirable tendency for independence. Breaking up is one way to shout to the world that you're single and unattached, fair game to the other single and adulterous people you cohabitate with. Breaking up is a loud cry for freedom: freedom from that double load of laundry, freedom from sleeping in the wet spot, freedom from double dates and joint address labels. And who among us doesn't love freedom? It's as American as baseball and apple pie.

But breaking up is dicey business, best handled with extreme caution, especially breaking up on or around Valentine's Day. So here are some very helpful hints in breaking off a relationship going nowhere. Following these guidelines may help you avoid a fate like our dear friend, St. Valentine. For optimal results, the tips for breaking up on Valentine's Day will be separated by gender.

Valentine's Day Breakup Tip for Women #1