See How We’re Breaking This Down? Very Demure.
Oh, word? TikTok is expanding its vocabulary again. On August 2, TikToker Jools Lebron, @joolieannie, posted a video pointing out her minimal makeup and laid wig, reflecting, “See how I come to work? Very demure.” Less than two weeks later, she’s now made dozens of viral TikToks about being demure — with the most-watched one sitting mindfully at 10.7 million views. The word has now entered the app’s vernacular; you might say that taking away Jordan Chiles’s bronze medal is not very demure, for example.
Look in a dictionary — demure is defined as “reserved, modest,” and perhaps a “little coy.” Lebron’s guidelines, however, are a bit more flexible. According to her account, there are a lot of ways to be “mindful,” “cutesy,” “sweetsy,” “considerate,” or any of the other adjectives she uses to describe this mind-set. It’s demure for Lebron to have her “chichis out” at work, but it’s also demure for her to wear a high-cut top. A demure diva chooses to get a salad after clocking out for the day — even though Lebron is showing off a multicourse meal, it’s a salad if she says it is — and even if it isn’t, look how demure and mindful she is to bring home leftovers.
This mind-set doesn’t only apply to work, ladies. So far, Lebron has given tongue-in-cheek reminders about how to behave on planes and in gay bars, and figured out how to fit everything from midnight snacks to conflicting perfume tips into her not-like-other-girls mind-set. “We need a demure rule book that gets more convoluted and inconsistent as you add rules for us!!” one commenter suggested. “YOU GET IT,” Lebron replied
These videos are not meant to be serious critiques. Instead, Lebron is often joking about her own behavior; she says she’s shown up to work in a green-glitter cut-crease makeup look — not exactly demure — and a recent video where she declares that she doesn’t drink or party is accompanied by footage of her slurring “very demure” to herself while looking for her hotel room after a night out in Las Vegas. Maybe it’s time for everyone who embraced being a little messy and dumb in the spirit of Brat summer to remind themselves how demure they can be? Charli XCX is already down for the next trend of the season, commenting “very cutesy!!!” on Lebron’s demure version of the “Apple” dance.
As this trend continues to take off, Lebron made a point in an August 13 video to credit the “many demura divas” who have “paved the way” for her, including trans sisters like artist and content creator Selyna Brillare, kudasai selfie-stick queen Devin Halbal, and ballroom icon Venus Xtravaganza. “Demure is just a way of life for the girls, for the dolls like me,” Lebron said, adding, “Who’s the original demure? Well, all of us. Being demure is thanking the people who have come before you while you pave the path for the people who will come after you.” Behold, the fruits of DemureTok.
