Women protesting for their rights in South Korea, home of the 4B Movement.
Photo Courtesy of Getty Images, Chung Sung-Jun
Since the reelection of Donald Trump, women have embraced an interest in what is called the 4B movement. The movement urges women to have no marriage (bi-hon), no childbirth (bi-chulsan), no dating (bi-yeonae), and no sex (bi-sekseu) with men.
The movement was sparked in South Korea back in 2016 by Ju Hui Judy Han, an assistant professor in gender studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. It acted as a relative of the #MeToo movement.
An incident sparking this movement occurred near a subway station in Seoul. In 2016, a woman was ruthlessly killed by a man. He then admitted his action was because he felt ignored by women.
This then inspired South Korean women to speak on how they are treated by men in their country, as this is only one incident of murdered women due to men feeling neglected.
Since Trump’s reelection, women online, especially young liberal women, have begun sharing information about the South Korean feminist movement. These same women have been sharing their rage online over men who voted for a candidate found liable of sexual abuse.
Online, the spread of information has primarily been through TikTok and X. On TikTok, videos informing viewers of the movement have gained millions of views. On X, a viral post describing the 4B movement has 21.4 million views along with 463.8k likes.
Despite the online spread of the movement, it is too early to tell how widespread this will become in the United States. Some are just hearing about it; others technically cannot participate if they are already in relationships with men. Those in any sort of relationship dynamic with men have chosen different methods of protest to make themselves heard.
Different ways women in relationships with men are protesting and fighting for their rights include boycotting male-owned businesses and indulging in any sort of labor for men. Such protesters are women who may be married, dating, or have children with a man.
Even if the 4B movement does not stay long in the U.S., the immense surge of interest online says something about how women feel.
Even if women don’t explicitly embrace the movement, the anger that drove this movement to begin could have a major impact on American politics and American life – just as it has in South Korea.
The results of this election have also sparked a huge increase in misogynistic behavior and comments. As though women did not already deal with this regularly, men have taken it among themselves to comment online, “Your body, my choice.”
Nick Fuentes, a White Nationalist and Holocaust denier, posted on X saying, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” This post was then viewed 96.7 million times and liked 52k times.
Women on TikTok have been posting their thoughts on this saying as men continue to boldly post and say the phrase, regardless.
Additionally, data shows young men aided in the reelection of Trump as President, which has left women distraught. The reelection is being seen as a way of speeding up the already widening gender gap in American politics. This includes the increasing number of men rejecting feminism.
The 4B movement may seem too radical for the U.S. to adopt, but the amount of traction it has gained shows how vulnerable women have felt since the presidential election. The conversations around it have led to the rethinking of how sensitive the situation for women is.
For now, the movement is seen as an upswing in both South Korea and the United States as women say they feel as though marriage, kids, and a house feel like a trap set by men who do not see them as equals.
As said by Judy Han, “I think a lot of American women are…trying to find ways to seek empowerment and find a way to survive.”
Han continues, “…I hope what they find is not necessarily a particular movement like the 4B movement, but a recognition that struggles for reproductive justice and gender equality are certainly not just American concerns.”
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