When A TikTok Trend Actually Changes Lives
Trans TikTok creator Jools Lebron’s “very demure, very mindful” video has taken the internet by storm. Despite just receiving views, Jools has garnered enough money from the trend to fully fund the next step in her transition, something that she has had her sights set on for a long time.
The trend found its roots in a video posted on August 5 titled “How to be demure and modest and respectful at the workplace.” She starts the video by saying “You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful.”
For whatever reason this sentence seemed to resonate with viewers, garnering Jools, now known as Ms. Demure, over 51.2 million views and quickly skyrocketing her phrase into our society’s lexicon.
“You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful.”
-Jools Lebron
Pretty soon it was near impossible to go about your day on social media without hearing something being called demure and mindful. Even in public, gaggles of teenagers and young adults would say it aloud, almost always backed by genuine giggles and laughs.
Big names such as Netflix, Fenty Beauty, and even the White House’s Instagram picked up on the phrase, showing the public just how far Jools’ catchy comedic tiktok demure video has reached.
Jools Lebron is a proud Trans creator and despite being a fresh face for many, for the past couple of years, she has had a fairly consistent presence on the platform. In a video published earlier this year, before the words “demure” and “mindful” were even conceived, she opened up about her experience transitioning.
“I’m willing to risk my life for this… it’s she/her until the day I die.”
-Jools Lebron
“A lot of us Trans people have gone through hell for their transition,” she begins, “I’ve risked my life, I’ve risked my safety, I’ve risked all my family and friendships, I didn’t talk to my family for two years, I lived isolated and alone.”
Before her newfound fame, Jools was already undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy but, for many Trans individuals, this is just a starting step. However, thanks to the internet being very demure and very mindful, Jools was able to make a personal dream of hers come true.
In a video posted one week ago, she revealed that, thanks to her new virality she was able to book the beginning stages of her top surgery.
“In the words of Eden the f**king doll (a popular trans creator), b**h, you don’t ever get to question if I’m a f**king woman again, b**h, or my dedication to my transition, b**h.” she tells the camera with tears in her eyes, “I’m willing to risk my life for this… it’s she/her until the day I die.”
To many Trans individuals, gender-affirming surgery is a huge financial burden. Most top surgeries range from $14,000 to $17,000 and not all insurances consider it a necessary procedure and instead deem it cosmetic.
However, for those denied reasonable access to gender-affirming care, it is more than just cosmetic, it’s what they need to survive, what they need to finally feel like they belong in their skin.
In an article posted by the Harvard School of Public Health, they summarize a study conducted by faculty titled Association Between Gender-Affirming Surgeries and Mental Health Outcomes.
Through their findings, the research team concluded that “Gender-affirming surgeries were associated with a 42 percent reduction in psychological distress and a 44 percent reduction in suicidal ideation when compared with transgender and gender-diverse people who had not had gender-affirming surgery but wanted it.”
“A lot of us Trans people have gone through hell for their transition. I’ve risked my life, I’ve risked my safety, I’ve risked all my family and friendships, I didn’t talk to my family for two years, I lived isolated and alone.”
-Jools Lebron
In a time when our current government body is restricting our youth’s access to gender-affirming care, it is beautiful to see what community-led action can do for our Trans brothers and sisters.
For those who want to see what Jools Lebron is getting up to besides being very demure and mindful, follow her on TikTok @joolieannie. For now, we congratulate her on this huge milestone and wish her the best as she takes this next step in her transition.
