How to be humble, modest and respectful in the workplace (in Spanish: how to be modest, modest and respectful at work), is the title of the video with which, at the beginning of August, Jools Lebron revolutionized the trends on TikTok. In the video, the content creator gives – from inside her car and in an ironic and humorous tone – advice on how to present yourself at work in a “wise”. “If you show up to the interview looking like Marge Simpson, you can’t show up to work looking like Patty and Selma. See my shirt? [haciendo referencia a su escote]just a little bit of chichi (meat) out, no pussy.
From that moment on, and thanks to the virality acquired, Lebron began to upload videos on how to be wise in different situations, whether it’s crossing an airport, getting off a plane or visiting a show hang out Thus creating a to orient oneself (as the microtrends of this social network are called) which have been joined by personalities such as Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Collins, Khloé Kardashian or many content creators from different countries, including Spain. But what does that mean exactly? “wise” — an adjective that, until recently, was almost out of use in English — and what about its viralization?
In Spanish we could translate act in a way “wise… very attentive and modest” such as being modest, doing things consciously and modestly, that is, without attracting too much attention. All these attributes have an important gender mark, since traditionally modesty and modesty are characteristics of an acceptable femininity. For a woman to be considered a “good woman”, a “young woman”, she had to behave in a certain way, always withdrawn, being correct, but without attracting too much attention.
In Spanish, we could translate acting in a “wise… very attentive and modest” way as being modest, doing things consciously and modestly, that is, without attracting too much attention.
If we pay attention to the series Gilmore GirlsThere is a chapter in which Emily Gilmore, Lorelai’s mother and Rori’s grandmother (the protagonists), uses this adjective to refer to her granddaughter when she asks for a “soda club” – what we call soda in Spain – and her boyfriend orders a good whiskey. While his drink gives signs of masculinity, confidence and security, hers is a sign of refinement, modesty, being. wise.
In the many videos and articles that are emerging on social networks on this subject trends, There are people who make fun of what it means for a woman to be wiselike the tiktoker Lara Cros, who teaches the most in a video wise eat the fries. In other words, take some potatoes, put them in an appetizer bowl and eat them calmly, in the face of the mean attitude. wise – which is actually most of us – eating potatoes three at a time straight from the bag until they are almost gone.
However, in the face of this type of video that humorously questions the modesty associated with femininity, some maintain and reproduce the original meaning of the term. For example, in the field of fashion, wise is seen as an extension of trends such as clean girl (clean girl) or the quiet luxury (quiet luxury), that is, a style that moves away from ostentation and aims to be minimalist, discreet, which does not attract too much attention, with low necklines and an appropriate length of skirts and trousers.
Faced with this type of video which humorously questions the modesty associated with femininity, some maintain and reproduce the original meaning of the term.
Most content creators, media outlets and brands that today refer to the term wise, Whether through humor or from a more traditional perspective, they do so from a hegemonic, white place, aligned with normative canons around the body and femininity; and they seem to overlook and ignore—and this is the problem—the reason for the resurgence of the term. And it is none other than Jools Lebron. Lebron is a trans woman, racialized, and fat, traits that, under the gaze of the patriarchal and colonial society in which we live, would never be associated with the idea of femininity that is associated with wise in its most traditional sense. However, this can be transgressed, and this is exemplified by Lebron.
In his essay Bodies that matter (published in Spain by Paidós), Judith Butler states that “the occupation or reterritorialization of a term used to exclude a sector of the population can become a place of resistance, the possibility of a formator of social and political resignification.” That is, when Lebron, a large racialized trans woman, speaks of an existence wisespeaks of an existence that was denied to her because she was not considered woman enough, white enough, and thin enough. And yet, he appropriates it and shows with it that wise It is a construct that can be interpreted, subverted, and even ridiculed. Through her videos, she therefore performs a performative act that challenges normative expectations about how a “modest” woman should look and behave and demonstrates how to be wise It is not only a form of self-expression, but also a political statement that questions the arbitrariness and limitations of these norms.
The occupation or reterritorialization of a term used to exclude part of the population can become a place of resistance, allowing the possibility of social and political resignification.
Judith Butler
— in ‘Bodies that matter’ (Paidós)
Genealogy wise diva
In a video in which Lebron is asked about the origin of wise and the meaning she attributes to it, alludes to a genealogy weird of wise trans divas, among whom he cites Devin (Halval), Selyna (Brillare) or the artist Venus Xtravaganza, known through the documentary Paris is burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990), and who was released only two years after her assassination.
Venus – and this existence wise They served as a refuge within the alternative communities and families that emerged around the culture. ballroom from the 80s in the United States, which united other young African-Americans and Latin Americans like her.
So for Lebron, wise It’s not only a way of occupying legitimate space and living a trans existence within parameters that society insists on reminding you are not your own, but it’s also “thinking about the people who came before you, while you pave the way for the future.” the people who will come after you. This is one of the main ideas that underlies Butler’s thinking when he analyzes this same documentary in his essay and speaks of the claiming of the collective character of the political subject. Lebron embraces heritage and genealogy wise diva of trans women like Venus Xtravaganza and traces new connections and paths with many people like her who have met her these days through social networks.
However, to respect this genealogy and this heritage, it is necessary to (re)cognize its origin, and what we see on many occasions are white cisheteros who reproduce the message – as I said at the beginning of the article – but emptying it of any political content. The real wise And aware It would be giving credit to people weird like Lebron on the resignifications of language that take place in communities weird in the different territories, as well as understanding their meaning, instead of joining another to orient oneself viral by imitation that tomorrow we will have forgotten.
