What Men Really Want for Valentine's Day

Every year women fawn over and fantasize about what their significant other is going to do for her on February 14th. Everyone knows it's out with the old and in with the new store decorations once the first day of the year pops up. The silver, green and gold decorations are replaced with pinks, whites and red. Trees and ornaments are replaced with boxes of candy and teddy bears. Valentine's Day may well be some big marketing scheme in the name of love, but for what it's worth, it's had women swept up for decades.

What about the men? Historically, society has focused on the women on Valentine's Day and many men seemed okay with it.

Joe, husband of 30 years, shares his sentiments. "I think most men from my era feel that Valentines Day is a ladies' day in that it is associated with all the symbols: red hearts, flowers, cupid, etc., of love. It is a time for flowers, nice dinners, sexy night gowns, and anything else that will hopefully show her your "loving" side. All we wanted in return was to enjoy ourselves with the special lady."

Has that changed? Do men desire to be celebrated on Valentine's Day or is it little more than 24 hours of anxiety for husbands, lovers and boyfriends?

Charon, 31 and living in New York City says "Men don't care about Valentine's Day. It's a marketing ploy for women's attention."

However, in a society where many men have gone metrosexual and enjoy shopping for the latest Kenneth Cole or Mezlan shoes just as much as women enjoy their Blaniks and Jimmy Choos, it isn't a stretch to imagine that some men out there are expecting reciprocity on the American self proclaimed day of love. Some of today's women are in tune and try to break out something exciting for their mate.

Twenty-nine year old, Atlanta native Brandt believes that women may have good intentions when it comes to pleasing their men on this holiday. "I think women think they are doing what their man wants, but they really don't know."

The easy part for women is that most men will probably fall into one of four categories when it comes to Valentine's Day. The difficult task is to find out just what type of guy Cupid has paired her up with.