By Evridiki Fatolia,
The Oxford Dictionary describes the word “demure” as: reserved, modest, and shy (typically used of a woman). But why it is viral these days?
Following the “very demure, very mindful” trend, thousands of videos on TikTok have appeared in recent weeks teaching us how to improve our manners. Although the original purpose of the satirical idea was to ridicule traditional notions of femininity, it has subsequently grown beyond. The inventor of the seemingly innocent slogan, Jools Lebron, shared a TikTok earlier this month featuring her thoughtful makeup and modest work attire. “Look at the way I do make-up for work?” Extremely modest and thoughtful, she conveyed to her fans all around the world.
“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,” Jools says, describing the word demure as the way one should carry themselves to work. “The way I came to the interview is the way I came to the job,” Jools explains. Not only have celebrities and entertainment producers embraced the idea, but organizations, such as NASA, have also jumped on board. “See how Earth appears from space? It’s quite subdued and thoughtful. In the solar system, Earth appears incredibly adorable,” the space agency wrote on X.
But what’s actually going wrong with this slogan?
Although the original purpose of the satirical idea was to ridicule traditional notions of femininity, it has subsequently grown beyond that. Although the phrase is being used jokingly by half of the Internet, other people worry that this trend is just another way that women are being held to unrealistic beauty standards.
Expert in culture and language, Nöel Wolf, claims that the word demure has been around since the 1600s and was frequently used in the 1800s to characterize young women who were “modest and reserved”. “How old language can take on a new life in the hands of the younger generations” is demonstrated by the word’s contextualization.
With the rapidity with which TikTok trends emerge and go, it’s difficult to predict which word or phrase will be the next big thing. Every week, a content creator and former English teacher, posts new vocabulary on the platform. He has posted a video elucidating the definition of vituperative, which is the opposite of demure, in reaction to the word demure. Wolf claims that several of the terms used by Generation Z this year, such as “raw-dogging,” “rizz”, and “sleeping rotting,” are surprising and cryptic.
As the Generation Z is taking action against all the social problems that had been hid under the rug for years, it is important that we understand the humorous of the situation, a tactic widely used by the Gen Z community, as a way of coping and battling the phenomena of the society. While the “demure” trend has been getting global recognition, it’s only a matter of time to see which other word will be the “talk of the world”.
References
- ‘Very demure, very mindful’ – are we missing the joke of viral trend? BBC. Available here
- demure. The Oxford Dictionary. Available here
