American women unhappy with Donald Trump’s re-election have shown a sudden interest in the feminist movement that began in South Korea and encourages rejection of heterosexual marriage, sex, childbirth, and dating.
The 4B movement, as it’s called, began in South Korea when women began swearing off heterosexual dating in protest against misogyny in the Asian country. While it is difficult to pinpoint the beginning of 4B, it is believed to have begun around 2017, but gained momentum in 2018 when protests erupted across the country in response to the spy camera epidemic and evolved into a #MeToo-esque feminist phenomenon.
On Wednesday, Google searches for “4B” rose 450 percent in the United States, with most of the interest coming from Washington, D.C., Colorado, Vermont and Minnesota. More than half a million search queries within 48 hours raised the term to the top of the trending results on the search giant.
A glimpse at how the term “4B movement” has risen in Google searches this week.
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Meanwhile, there are hundreds of videos from US-based creators Featured on TikTokwith the women disappointed with Tuesday’s results and vowing to participate in their own version of 4B.
What does 4B mean?
The 4B movement stands for four Korean words that begin with “bi” or “no” in English: bihon means no heterosexual marriage; Pichulsan, no birth; Bionay, no dating; And bisekseu, there are no sexual relations between the sexes.
Supporters of the movement may refuse to date, marry, have children, or have sex (or any combination of these things), boycotting a system they feel prioritizes gender inequality.
While some participants may want to get married and have children, they believe that the risks of having to conform to traditional gender roles outweigh the benefits of starting a family.
While the movement first began in response to revenge porn and spy cameras targeting women in South Korea, it has become a rallying cry for other existential threats: access to abortion and quality health care, the gender wage gap, intimate partner violence, and more.
Essentially, women are sending the message that if the violence and inequality against them does not stop, they will ensure the birth rate declines.
“It’s a new way of life focused on building safe communities, both online and in person. What we want is She should not simply be labeled as some man’s wife or girlfriend“But gaining independence to be free from societal expectations that often limit the possibility of women being fully recognized as human beings,” Haen Shim, a South Korean activist, told The Guardian, stressing that the movement goes beyond simply boycotting men and sex. It encourages participants to find solidarity and community with each other.
Shim said her participation in the movement sparked backlash, and she and other women faced harassment, stalking, cyberbullying and threats of violence.
“Many of us wore masks, sunglasses and hats to cover our faces, and it was common to dress differently before and after the protest in order to protest.” Reduce exposure to stalking“.
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What is the size of the 4B movement?
While 4B is seeing a spike in interest in North America, it is difficult to determine the extent of its reach in South Korea given its largely unknown nature. It also reaches into online and offline culture.
As The Independent noted, it was registered in South Korea with The growing educational gap Among men and women – Nearly three-quarters of Korean women are pursuing higher education today, compared to less than two-thirds of men, allowing women to enjoy the possibility of a life where they are not dependent on a male spouse.
South Korea also has the lowest birth rate in the world, which continues to decline, a fact that some have attributed to 4B, although no specific data has been provided to support this theory.
In 2022, President Yoon Suk-yeol She blamed the feminist movement for the country’s low birth rateSaying he would toughen penalties for false accusations of sex crimes, he denied the existence of “structural discrimination based on gender.”
The previous year, he also accused feminist movements of “Prevent healthy relationships” Between men and women in the nation.
What’s driving American interest in 4B?
It’s no secret that women’s rights are under increasing threat in the United States, and many have viewed Trump’s re-election as a referendum on women’s rights, leaving them now fearful of what the next four years may hold.
With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, coupled with the opposition to abortion by many in the Trump administration, there is fear that the United States could soon face a federal ban on abortion and other diminished reproductive rights.
Many believe Trump was as well “Strategically ambiguous” about his stance on abortionEspecially during these recent elections. He said during his campaign that he would not support a federal ban and wanted to leave it to the states.
However, he has also used this year’s campaign to repeatedly frame the overturn of Roe v. Wade as an accomplishment that no other Republican can claim.
“For 54 years, they’ve been trying to end Roe v. Wade. I did it,” he said at a Fox News town hall in January. “And I’m proud that I did it.”
The far-right political agenda known as Project 2025a sprawling statement published in April 2023 by conservative think tank The Heritage Project that claimed to not speak for any presidential candidate, takes a hard line on the criminalization of abortion medications and many fear will become the playbook Republicans use over the next four years.
Bill 2025 would also prohibit federal health care providers from practicing gender-affirming care for transgender people and eliminate insurance coverage for the morning-after pill, under the pretext that it is an abortion drug.
While the book never explicitly states that abortion as a whole should be criminalized, the project asserts that life begins at conception and that its policies will exacerbate this problem. Making abortion practically impossible For many.
Although Trump said he had “no idea who’s behind” Project 2025, journalist Judd Ligham was the first to report it. 31 out of 38 people Those who helped write and edit the book served in the Trump administration or were nominated for positions in it.
Many also feel that gender inequality has become a major problem in the United States, pointing to the wage gap — with women working full time, on average, Earn 84 cents for every dollar a man earns.
This election cycle has seen a whole swath of Gen Z voters become new familiar with Trump’s “grab them by the p-” remarks about women from a leaked document Access Hollywood video that made headlines in 2016. And just last week, he told supporters he would “protect” women “whether women like it or not.”
If the 4B movement gains a foothold in the United States, it will have… The possibility of it backfiring“, some experts warn.
“This will create more division between women and men, which will lead men to be more dissatisfied, perhaps A more misogynistic cultureSarah Liu, a senior lecturer in gender and politics at the University of Edinburgh, told Newsweek.
“As American men grapple with shifting gender roles, which was one reason they voted for conservative leaders like Trump, women’s participation in the American version of the 4B movement would confirm their beliefs that their masculinity is under threat and that they The need to regain control over women“.
“It is also important to remember that although Trump’s main supporters are men, many women, especially white women, also voted for Trump. So the 4B movement may reinforce this impression that men are the main force behind Trump’s election, ignoring The role played by white women.
Katherine Moon, a political science professor at Wellesley College, told the New York Times that even if the 4B movement gains long-term momentum in the United States, it will. It definitely looks different than it did in South Korea Because of cultural differences.
In South Korea, marriage is considered essential to being an adult, she explained, and “until very recently, being a social adult — not reaching the age of majority at 18 or so but being a socially recognized adult — was… The marriage was commissioned“Basically, not getting married as a woman in South Korea can lead to becoming a social outcast.
“It is a temporary way (in the United States) to draw attention to the precarious situation of women, with Trump coming to power,” she said. “So it’s not really about fully committing to a lifestyle without men. In South Korea, it’s a lifestyle.”
