SSee how I start this article by explaining a trend you don’t know about? That’s my mindfulness. See how I write a simple introduction so you understand what I’m writing about? That’s low key.
In less than a week, the internet was awash with videos — mostly from trans women — reminding anyone who stumbles upon their content to move gracefully and be “modest.” One of the most popular creators who got the trend rolling is an influencer named Jools Lebron, who uploaded a video on August 2 in which she shared a tip on how to get rid of a white mustache, which can occur when makeup mixes with sweat. At the end of the video, after the mustache has disappeared, she adds, “Very modest.”
Following her first video, Lebron posted another promoting a perfume. The caption in the video reads, “How to be modest at work,” and she offers advice on how to be modest and attentive in the workplace. Her video quickly garnered more than 3 million views, and she soon began sharing several videos of the same style, regularly garnering millions more views. In one, she shows how modestly she retrieves her ID from the gay bar where she left it after a night of drinking. “Very modest, very attentive. I don’t go to the bar and have a drink. I come, get my ID and leave.” In another, she demonstrates how to line up to board a plane: “I don’t rush. I take my seat. I don’t push myself.”
The idea of restraint, as Lebron describes it, is a state of mind—one that, interestingly, came about in the wake of a summer of “brats” that encouraged anything but restrained behavior. The official definition of the word is reserved, humble and respectful. Lebron also made a video in which she says it’s being restrained to pay tribute to those who came before you—naming ballroom stars like Venus Xtravaganza, a transgender artist featured in the influential documentary Paris is burning– and paved the way for those who came after her. But since her videos were so successful, the word has taken on a life of its own. People make satirical videos about eating a giant sandwich or doughnut in a “modest” way and joke about what is considered modest and what is not.
Lebron isn’t the only creator reminding the internet to be humble and modest. A creator named Devin Halbal (also known by her username @hal.baddie) uploaded a video that also went viral. In the video, which has now been viewed more than 2 million times, Halbal tells her followers that they need to “stay modest” because they “don’t know how to stay modest for at least five minutes and then you act shocked when the shit hits the fan.” On her video, Lebron left a message of sisterly solidarity that reads, “Very modest, very thoughtful, very respectful.”
While LeBron’s videos on the topic seem to be the first to become extremely popular, other YouTubers claim they popularized the trend. A YouTuber with the username @mayalabruja uploaded a video talking about another YouTuber, @selyna.brillare, who claimed she started the trend in deleted videos.
Some have said Halbal initiated the “chic” takeover, but in a comment under a recent video of her responding to the drama (aptly titled “How to Respond to Drama with Modesty”), Lebron said there is nothing but good vibes between her and Halbal. “Devin reaching out and giving nothing but love was mindful,” the comment read.
Be that as it may, this drama will not stop these women from expressing their desire for a more modest society. After all, drama is not very modest, is it? It is not very mindful.
