The aestheticization — dare I say fetishization — of female pain reaffirms the conditions that made girls sad in the first place. Simply put, the Sad Girl reeks of complacency.

Sad girl novels — think Normal People by Sally Rooney, ... Photo shows An illustration of falling books on a beige background with the ABC logo and text reading The ABC Book Club.

Sad Girl Track Club was born to “normalize being a lil emotionally unwell,” according to its social media pages. It’s okay, after all, to be a little sad.

In her column “Brutal Monsters,” Cate Burtner ’25 offers commentary on the literature of mental illness. I have always thought the term ‘sad girl poetry’ was condescending.

For me, being a sad girl means being in touch with the way I feel (and feeling it all). It means embracing joy as much as sadness and not having to pretend that I’m someone I’m not; it is ...