The birth and early death of the Demure meme
The Demure meme originated with a TikTok video of Jools Lebron advising viewers to be “very demure, very mindful” in everyday situations. The statement was meant to be a joke, evidenced by how the creator made more videos demanding people be demure and “cutesy” in increasingly absurd settings.
It caught on like wildfire on the video social media platform and the TikToker, Jools Lebron, soon gained widespread internet fame.
What is the 'Very Mindful, Very Demure' TikTok trend, and who started it?
The demure meme started on August 2, 2024, when TikTok user @joolieannie posted the first video using the word and the associated phrase “very demure, very mindful.” She sat in her car and spoke about how she had prepared for her work day, laying out her morning routine.
@joolieannie #fyp #demure @OAKCHA @Paul | Fragrance Influencer ♬ original sound - Jools Lebron
“See how I come to work?” she said. “Very demure. I do my makeup. I lay my wig. I do a little braid. I flat iron my hair. I do chi chis out. I do Viral Vanilla. Very demure, very mindful. Let’s not forget to be demure, divas.”
What does 'demure' mean?
The word “demure” in average contexts means “modest, reserved, or serious” according to most dictionaries, sometimes with the potential for a coy kind of vibe if you’re putting on the effect to attract someone.
The demure meme could be considered in line with the “trad wife” or “clean girl” trends but has more often been used in opposition to the “brat summer” phenomenon.
Demure fall vs Brat summer
Brat summer refers to the title of this season’s Charli XCX album as well as a specific attitude that is pretty much the opposite of demure. While being demure is about modesty and a soft-spoken, submissive affect, being brat is all about loud confidence and not caring what other people think.
@charlixcx what it means to be a brat :) #OffTheRecord ♬ Club classics - Charli xcx
Charli XCX explained “brat” in a TikTok video in early July, 2024.
“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe says some dumb things sometimes.”
Is 'Very Demure' dead?
The demure meme quickly spread to all corners of the internet and became so prolific so fast that related memes morphed into declaring how much people despised the trend or complaining that they couldn’t escape it for one moment.
Once corporations started to use it to advertise products and fill up people's inboxes, the meme was soon declared dead.
'Very Demure' gets trademarked—and not by Jools Lebron
The creator of the demure meme was left in tears after she discovered that someone else had trademarked her viral phrase before she had the chance. This leaves her unable to launch a line of merchandise around the trend.
According to court documents, one Jefferson Bates of Washington state snagged the trademark. Lebron, a trans woman, now fears that she will be unable to fund her transition or provide for her family in the way she had hoped after her videos went viral.
Not very demure, Jefferson.
24 funny Demure memes
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Related memes:
- The demure origins of the Christian Girl Autumn meme
- Kamala Harris is having a ‘Brat Girl Summer’: Here’s what that means
- Mindy Kaling’s introduction of Nancy Pelosi killed ‘Brat Summer’
- Nara Smith ‘making X from scratch’ memes
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