Why is everyone online ‘very demure, very mindful’ right now?
Do you see how I’m writing this article? Starting it with an example of the exact trend I’m about to explain? Very cutesy. Very mindful. Very demure.
Jools Lebron, TikTok‘s resident “fierce diva” at @joolieannie, has a catchphrase. In a series of videos Jools posted over the past few weeks, we’re given advice on how to look “demure” and “mindful” at work and in life.
“You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful,” Jools says. “I don’t come to work with a green-cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work. You see how I look very presentable? The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job. A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure. I’m very modest. I’m very mindful. You see my shirt? Only a little chee chee out, not my cho cho. Be mindful of why they hired you. Here’s your reality check, diva. What’s the name you’d like me to make it out to?”
The trend is funny, helpful, demure, and mindful. It’s led to a flood of videos of people using the terms “demure,” “mindful,” and “cutesy” on TikTok, Twitter, and even offline.
“Demure” does technically mean “reserved, modest, and shy,” but don’t let the constraints of a dictionary definition control how you use words. You can use it to talk about anything from dental care to a hungover CVS trip.
Please, everyone, enjoy “demure” while it lasts — before something horrible happens, like Jools getting milkshake ducked or a political campaign using it in a TikTok video.
