Being disconnected from pop culture, I have to discover what is popular by accident.
The same for discovering new meanings for such old words as “beauty,” “male,” “female,” and “demure.”
Recently, I discovered Jools Lebron. Nightmares have been the result ever since.
Who is she?
First, as her looks suggest, she is a former he. However, she still has XY chromosomes.
If you are as puzzled by that as I am, I’ll let her explain it.
Lebron describes herself as a “plus-size trans woman” and a former drag queen.
She is further described in the pop culture as a makeup artist, beauty influencer, and a TikTok star with tens of millions of followers.
Beauty influencer?
If Bernie Madoff had claimed to be an ethics influencer, that would have been just as contradictory.
One of Lebron’s TikTok videos has been viewed more than 40 million times and has made her famous enough to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Also, the Washington Post reported that she had been invited to attend the Democrat National Convention but declined due to a conflict.
The video is titled, “How to be demure at work.” She reportedly explains in the video how she does makeup for work and also how to be “demure, respectful and mindful.”
According to Wikipedia, such celebrities as Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Rodrigo, RuPaul, and Penn Badgley have made social media videos using bits of audio from Lebron’s original videos. Likewise, companies, agencies, brands, and even NASA have used her phraseology in their online marketing and social media posts. The word “demure” in particular has become very popular.
“Demure” and “demur” have quite different meanings. Here’s how Merriam-Webster defines “demure” as an adjective:
Demure
Adjective
1: RESERVED, MODEST
2: affectedly modest, reserved, or serious : COY
Adverb: demurely
Noun: demureness
Would you refer to Lebron as reserved and modest? Would you ever characterize a drag queen as demure?
Let’s switch now to “demur.” Merriam-Webster defines the word as follows:
Demur
Noun
1: the act or an instance of objecting : PROTEST
2: hesitation (as in doing or accepting) usually based on doubt of the acceptability of something offered or proposed
Verb
1: to take exception: OBJECT —often used with to or at
Well, based on the definition immediately above, I demur to the notion that Jools Lebron is a beautiful and demure woman.
Mr. Cantoni, who is neither demure nor beautiful, can be reached at [email protected].
