This female artist makes awards for men for not being completely terrible
Shelby Lorman wants to acknowledge sexist double standards with humour
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.They say art is a good way to express your emotions, so one artist has created an Instagram page dedicated to sarcastically giving out awards to men for doing the absolute minimum.
Whether it be for refraining from “mansplaining” or doing the least in the bedroom, Shelby Lorman, the 24-year-old writer and artist behind the Instagram account @awardsforgoodboys, has handed out rewards for it all.
And her account has grown quite popular since she first started it in 2017, as it now has over 48,000 followers.
But behind the humorous illustrations, Lorman wants to convey a deeper issue - that men often expect to be rewarded for not being completely awful.
Speaking to Vice, Lorman said: “People are so quick to praise men for avoiding vehemently bad behaviour, whilst holding women to a million standards they’ll never meet.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, he didn’t murder anyone? He’s my hero,’” she continued.
According to Lorman, who refers to these types of men as “good boys,” the aim is to inject humour into these sexist stereotypes - in the hopes that it will resonate.
With women, Lorman has no issues relating, judging by the hundreds of “so true” comments on her photos.
But with men, it can be a little more difficult, especially if they think the post is making fun of them.
According to Lorman, this is the point. She told Vice: “If people can laugh and think critically, in lieu of outright judgement, that’s an effective loophole to get people talking.”
And for the man that “read the headline of the article about toxic masculinity that he shared on Facebook,” laughing while acknowledging the inherent problem in this behaviour is the first step.
“Oh my god this is so real,” reads one comment.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments