It’s a saying you may have heard on social media or maybe a friend has said it: “very attentive, very reserved.”
The latest internet trend is thanks to a Chicago-based TikTok content creator named Jools Lebron.
On August 2, LeBron posted a video titled “How to Be Reserved at Work,” which quickly went viral.
“You see how I come to work? Very reserved,” she says in the video. “I put on makeup, I put on my wig, I do a little braid.”
She then sprayed herself with perfume in her car before going on to say that she was “very reserved. Very attentive. Let’s not forget to be reserved, divas.”
In the days that followed, she made dozens of now-viral videos showing how she performs everyday tasks in a “very modest” way, such as ordering food, getting a manicure, boarding a plane and even applying deodorant.
And from there, the internet followed suit, using TikTok and Instagram’s “template” feature.
In a video to his 1.4 million subscribers, LeBron, who is transgender and uses the pronouns “she/her,” said that with his newfound fame, he will now be able to fund the rest of his transition.
“One day I was playing cashier and making videos on my breaks, and now I travel around the country doing events,” she added.
What does “discreet” really mean?
According to Merriam-Webster, demure is an adjective meaning “affected with modesty, reserved, or serious.”
LeBron uses the affectionate term “reserved” to describe himself in his daily tasks, often adding, “I’m not like you other girls.”
When she says she does something in a “very reserved” way, she often adds other words like attentive, cute, and considerate.
“You see how I wear makeup for work? I’m very reserved, very attentive,” she says in a video posted on August 5. “I don’t look like a clown when I come to work. I don’t overdo it. I’m very attentive when I’m at work.”
Are the “modest” videos serious or a joke?
From TikTok creators to A-list celebrities like Kim Kardashian, it seems like the entire internet is in on it. But did this trend toward secrecy start this way?
LeBron made it clear that his videos were “obviously” a joke, but not everyone got the irony.
She even added that the original joke about not showing up to work with “crease-cutting green glitter” makeup was making fun of something she did herself.
