May 9, 2026 at 5:15 pm

The ‘Cringe’ Clause: Why One Artist Refused to Show Her Family the Comic They Spent Years Mocking

by Benjamin Cottrell

teenage girl drawing on the floor

Pexels/Reddit

Some siblings are your built-in cheerleaders, but others are the reason you stop sharing things at all.

When an artist tried to keep her new comic private from a sibling who’s never had a kind word about her interests, her family pushed back hard.

Saying no apparently made her the bad guy.

Keep reading for the full story.

WIBTA if I didn’t share my comic with my family?

I’m (18) an artist, and I started a comic not a long time ago.

I planned to keep it private around my family, but my friend slipped up around my mom and now my close family (just mom, dad and brother) know about it.

Now this morning my mom brought up that my older brother (21) was curious about the comic and wanted me to show it.

The thing is, she doesn’t feel like her family is going to be overly supportive of her art.

My brother finds everything I read, watch and enjoy cringey, childish and stupid.

But when I told my mom that I won’t be showing it to any of them, she got annoyed and said that everyone, including my brother, was always supportive of my art, and that I’m making an AH out of my brother for no reason.

It’s true her parents are good support, but the problem still is with her sibling.

My mom and dad have always indeed been supportive of the works I did for my art college and stuff, but my brother either never addressed them, or said they look weird whenever I showed it to him.

So, my mom basically meant that I would be unreasonable and an AH if I refused to show it to them after they supported me so much throughout college.

Still, she refuses to be made fun of again.

I wish I could, and I wish my brother would just find me cool and interesting sometimes, but that’s not the reality I live in.

This entire thing led to me wanting to stop the comic all along, because it just feels stupid and cringe now.

WIBTA if I didn’t share my comic with them?

This brother sounds a bit like a bully.

What did Reddit have to say?

There’s no sense in pressuring her to reveal her art before it’s ready.

Screenshot 2026 05 08 at 11.51.52 AM The Cringe Clause: Why One Artist Refused to Show Her Family the Comic They Spent Years Mocking

Art is personal and non-artists don’t seem to understand that.

Screenshot 2026 05 08 at 11.52.41 AM The Cringe Clause: Why One Artist Refused to Show Her Family the Comic They Spent Years Mocking

She’s not wrong for identifying a clear pattern.

Screenshot 2026 05 08 at 11.53.14 AM The Cringe Clause: Why One Artist Refused to Show Her Family the Comic They Spent Years Mocking

This user takes the young artist’s side.

Screenshot 2026 05 08 at 11.53.37 AM The Cringe Clause: Why One Artist Refused to Show Her Family the Comic They Spent Years Mocking

No one can blame her for protecting her art when her brother acts more like a critic than a sibling.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman whose family supports her art career…except when she wants them to pay for her work.