By Gio Arteaga
While on my phone on a fateful night on Friday, August 5th, 2024, engulfed in the comforts of my bed at like two in the morning. I was suddenly shaken up by a new video posted by popular trans creator Joola Lebron—the woman who single-handedly changed the picture for what we now know as being mindful, being demure.
But what does this exactly mean?
If you were to go on your phone right now and open up probably any social media app on this earth, you’d likely not see someone lip-syncing to a creator saying, “You see how I do my make-up for work? Very demure, very mindful.” If you wonder about the meaning of these seemingly cryptic messages and don’t understand what’s happening, you’re not alone.
After watching hundreds of videos flood my page after Jools’ video went astronomically viral, amounting to over 51 million views over the course of a month, it seemed impossible and insane; every makeup influencer to people having “petit muckbangs.” The idea of being “mindful” has become increasingly more versatile to different audiences. The word “Demure,” according to the Cambridge dictionary, means “(especially of women) quiet and well behaved:” which, in the context of the video that Jools created, means to be very mindful and ladylike in the way she applies her makeup and wants others to perceive her. Furthermore, when watching the entire video, Jools explains how people should want to dress presentably for job interviews and how she should dress how she wants employers to view her professional appearance. Jools explains how many women “pull up to their job interviews dressing like Marge Simpson, ” showing her beliefs and funny personality.
However, even if people make fun of Jools for her meme and say it becomes annoying, something phenomenal from this success was being able to pay and go through her transition to make her feel even more demure. The community surrounding Jools is proud of her, and we sure are, too.