Flawed masculinity is the second aspect of Shifman's typology regarding memes. The notion of flawed masculinity can refer to men's failure to contemporary masculine expectations in behaviour, appearance or performance. For instance, the overwhelming use of the "Bad Luck Brian" image to convey messages of failure and bad luck. Brian's image has been used as a core communicator to conversations regarding the daily lives of people, to debates about sports, politics and a host of various world issues. By society's expectations, Brian is considered a "geek", his red hair along with his freckled face and braces-laden teeth are considered to be representation of the traditional ideals of what is "uncool". If Brian did not appear the way he did, the memes simply would not be as successful and certainly would not be as humorous.
Similar trends also occur in basketball memes. For example, the consistent focus on Brian Scalabrine's perceived lack of talent has been prominent among the online basketball fan community. Such attention has effectively evolved Scalabrine's star image from a rarely-used bench player to that of a cult hero. However, perhaps the most telling example of such theme is within the memes concerning the sports biggest names. Memes concerning the Charlotte Bobcats mainly refer to the team's lack of success. The Bobcats also happen to be owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan. Perhaps the Bobcats' poor performances are justifiably criticised, it does make an arguable point that if Jordan was not the team owner, the Bobcats may not have been under as much scrutiny. Conversely, memes concerning superstar Lebron James tend to focus on his failures on the basketball court, such as his inability to hold his nerve during big match situations and his long-standing quest to win a NBA championship. If such memes targeted the other several hundred NBA players who have not won championships and are considerably lesser known compared to James, the memes simply would not work.
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