In the days after U.S. election, the South Korean feminist 4B movement has gone viral online, fuelled by American women dismayed at the re-election of Donald Trump, a man who has been found guilty in a civil court of sexual abuse.
The 4B philosophy urges women to boycott dating, sex, marriage and childbirth with men as an act of resistance against misogyny.
Born out of South Korea鈥檚 version of #MeToo several years ago, 4B has found renewed traction and a new audience on social media as women express their concern that Trump鈥檚 Republican administration will further restrict women鈥檚 reproductive rights, which have been severely impacted since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Women holding signs at the National Women’s March in Chicago before the U.S. election on Nov. 2, 2024.聽
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh鈥淭his isn鈥檛 about rejecting love or relationships; it鈥檚 about reclaiming the power to live life on our terms. It鈥檚 about focusing on self-fulfillment, freedom, and creating new paths for women in a world that often pressures us into certain roles,鈥 on Instagram yesterday. 鈥淎re you ready to redefine what empowerment means? Join the 4B Movement and connect with women who want to live life by their own rules.鈥
4B has reportedly been on X alone since Tuesday鈥檚 election result, reaching 45 million users.
Here鈥檚 what you need to know about the viral rise of 4B.
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What does 4B stand for?
This movement is named after four B-words in Korean: Bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae, and bisekseu. They translate to the four things that women are boycotting: Heterosexual dating, sex, marriage and childbirth. It鈥檚 sometimes known as 鈥渢he Four Nos,鈥 after the fact that those four Korean words all start with 鈥渂i,鈥 or in English, 鈥渘o.鈥
鈥淚t is both an ideological stance and a lifestyle, and many women I spoke to extend their boycott to nearly all the men in their lives, including distancing themselves from male friends,鈥 wrote a journalist who interviewed South Korean women who adhere to the 4B principles.
What are the origins of the 4B movement?
It鈥檚 believed the 4B movement arose after a series of national 2018 South Korean protests against women being filmed without their knowledge in public bathrooms or while having sex using 鈥渟py cams.鈥
4B is seen as a more extreme version of several feminist movements that have arisen over the past few years in South Korea, like the 鈥渆scape the corset鈥 movement that sees women take a stand against oppressive beauty standards, often by cutting their hair short and wearing baggy clothing.
It鈥檚 also a descendent of the 鈥渘o marriage movement,鈥 which emerged around 2014 and saw South Korean women rejecting the traditional expectation that they would marry and leave the workforce to have children. At that time, Korean women outnumbered men in higher education.
In 2016, as the country鈥檚 birth rate was falling to one of the lowest in the world, the government launched an online map that showed the number of women of reproductive age within local areas; it was taken down after outcry from women鈥檚 groups.
Fast forward to 2022, and South Korea elected president Yoon Suk Yeol, who essentially for the fact that the country now has the world鈥檚 lowest birth rate. “Some say feminism is too politically exploited [to the point] it prevents healthy relationships between men and women,” Yoon said in the run-up to the election. “From a social standpoint, the conditions are ill-suited for having and raising children.鈥 4B came to be seen as a channel of protest against a state that seemed to see women primarily as potential breeders.
Why is the 4B movement going viral right now?
The American women posting about 4B on social media are saying they see echoes of South Korea鈥檚 experience with what they believe is happening in their country.
鈥淕irls, it鈥檚 time to boycott all men. You lost your rights, and they lost the right to hit raw!鈥 says one TikTok poster in a video that was has racked up over 3 million views in two days. 鈥4B movement starts now!鈥
In a discussing 4B coming to America, one commenter wrote: 鈥淚s anyone else starting to feel like 4B is the only way? Stop giving birth to your oppressor. Stop having sex with your oppressor. Stop being friends with your oppressor when you could just spend that time making connections with women instead. Stop doing anything that benefits your oppressor.鈥
Another user called for four years of celibacy. 鈥淸Men] no longer get access to us until they can prove they’re capable of caring about our basic rights, health, and safety,鈥 they wrote. 鈥淭he 鈥榞ood men鈥 failed us by letting the bad men proliferate. They all have to be punished in a way they can understand.鈥
鈥淕irls, it鈥檚 time to boycott all men. You lost your rights, and they lost the right to hit raw!鈥 read one that was has racked up over 3 million views in two days. 鈥4B movement starts now!鈥
There is, of course, another side to this discourse, notably on X, where women are mocked for their interest in the 4B movement. 鈥淎s a Trump voter, I fully endorse the 4B movement. Men will have a much easier time weeding out the crazies,鈥 reads with over 40,000 views. 鈥淐ongrats everyone 鈥 sometimes problems just fix themselves.鈥
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