The “sad girl” aesthetic, popularized by straight white women, often sidelines the authentic experiences of sadness felt by women of color and queer women, reducing their emotions to racial or cultural trauma. We must shatter the stereotypes of the “sad girl” and ask why these minority women are denied the same space to simply be sad.

The term “bamboo ceiling” refers to the barriers set to exclude Asian Americans from reaching positions of power in business and cultural enterprises. “Bamboo ceiling” is an extension of the term “glass ceiling” which was created and placed on women to prevent them from moving up the hierarchy…