New trend on TikTok: DEMURE (representative image)
Photo: iStock
KEY POINTS
- TikToker Jools Lebron’s video on how to achieve a “demure” look went viral, racking up more than 2.7 million views in ten days.
- RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen amplified the trend by creating a video that garnered more than 1.2 million views in one day.
- The trend evolved into terms like “demuremaxxing” and “demuretsey,” which reflect the satirical and playful nature of the demure aesthetic.
He ‘demure‘ tiktok trendAlso known as “Very Demure, Very Mindful,” it emerged as a satirical phenomenon instructing people on how to act modestly in everyday activities. This trend began with TikToker Jools Lebron, who appeared to parody a video style possibly linked to the recent tradwife trend, the “clean girl” aesthetic, or other content suggesting traditional gender roles for women.
In Lebron’s original video, she talks about her approach to looking “demure” for work. She details her routine, which includes applying makeup, wearing a long, straight wig with a braid, and using perfume. The TikToker’s portrayal of demure includes a hyper-feminine presentation of modesty and reserve. According to Merriam-Webster, “demure” means “modestly affected, reserved, or serious” and can also imply “shy” in certain contexts. In the meme, “demure” was used to describe a modest and reserved demeanor with a distinctly feminine edge.
The trend gained momentum when Lebron’s video, which emphasized her “very modest” through her beauty routine, went viral. Posted on August 2, 2024, the video racked up over 2.7 million views in ten days. Another related video in which Lebron repeated the phrase “very modest, very conscious” and incorporated the term “modest” reached 7.6 million views.
The virality of Lebron’s content caused the trend to spread beyond his own posts. The phrase “very demure, very conscious” caught the attention of Bob the Drag Queen, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, who created a tiktok Video that uses the sound of Lebron’s posts. This video, in which Bob puts on makeup while lip-syncing, got more than 1.2 million views in one day.
The trend continued to evolve, with users creating their own prim and proper content in diverse and often incongruous situations, such as at the airport or while eating a sandwich. This approach added a layer of satire to the trend, emphasizing its absurdity in certain contexts.
The terms ‘demure‘ and ‘Demuretsy (Demuretsy)‘ further developed from the trend. ‘Demuremaxxing’ referred to the act of amplifying one’s demure aesthetic to an extreme degree, while ‘demuretsey’ combined ‘decure’ with ‘cutesy’ to describe a related but more playful state of modesty. On August 10, 2024, Lebron released another video explaining ‘demuretsey’, which attracted 1.8 million views.
Overall, TikTok’s “modest” trend encapsulated a satirical view of modesty and traditional femininity, reflecting the platform’s tendency to popularize and repurpose niche cultural phenomena.
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