Ever since Trump won the US election last week, social media has been full of comments about a new "movement" for women to join. And it's certainly ruffling a few feathers.
If you've been scrolling on the likes of X (Twitter) or TikTok in the last couple of days then you would have noticed many posting about the "4B movement."
Despite there being an uptick of interest in the movement exclusive to women, the 4B is nothing new and actually didn't start off in the US in the first place.
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Here, we take a look at exactly what the 4B movement is, when it started and how it will effect those in the US and further afield....
What is the 4B movement?
The 4B movement is one belonging to radical feminism and it involves blocking out any sexual or romantic relationships with men. It's politically fuelled and is a response to gender-based violence - women being assaulted or murdered by men.
Those who have joined the movement are also fed-up with experiencing discrimination and misogyny. It first started in South Korea after women noticed an epidemic of violence towards women.
While the 4B movement gained traction in the early 2010s, it wasn't until 2016 when the radical feminist idea really kicked into motion. It happened to be a direct response to the brutal murder of a 23-year-old woman killed in a public toilet by a man.
He callously admitted: "I did it because women have always ignored me." Reportedly, men in South Korea either kill or attempt to kill a woman they are in close relationships with every 19 hours.
This violence against women in South Korea has made many adhere to the principles of the 4B movement, which has been claimed to be one of the reasons why the country has the lowest birth rate in the world.
The president, Yoon Suk-yeol, dubbed feminism and movements like 4B as the reason for the "national emergency." However, he has faced backlash for denying gender-based discrimination exists and blamed feminism for men and women not having healthy relationships.
South Korean women have said the state see them as "baby-making machines" - and they're on track to stop that becoming a reality as the country has now more deaths than births.
What are the 4B's?
So what exactly are these 4B's of the movement? Well, the four B's aren't actually words starting with B - the letter represents a demand.
In Korean, B is a prefix pronounced a "bi" that translates to "no" in English. As follows, the four B's are:
- Bisekseu - No sex with men
- Bihon - No marrying men
- Bichulsan - No giving birth
- Biyeonae - No dating men
By following these guidelines of the movement, women hope that their vow will boycott the system they believe oppresses them. They believe that but not marrying or starting a relationship with a man will help prevent the threat from men to women.
After noticing the frequency of violence and death towards women, those in the movement hope that change will be implemented or will punish those who hope to harm women.
What is happening with the US and 4B?
The 4B movement has been popular in South Korea for a number of years now and is becoming more prominent in comment sections of social media posts highlighting gender-based violence.
It wasn't until Trump became elected again that the 4B movement has been considered by the West. Many democratic women have have shared the idea about banding together to give "America a severely sharp birth date decline" similar to what is thought to have happened in South Korea.
The response isn't so much to the extreme levels of gender-based violence, but the impending threat to women's reproductive health care. Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the decision stopped the federal right to an abortion which handed the power back to the individual states.
"After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone," Trump said about his role of abolishing the law which was kickstarted in his first presidency.
Women who are 'pro-choice' are now concerned what this means for his second term, though Trump said earlier in the year that he believes in "exceptions" when it comes to abortion - rape, incest and threat to life of mother.
In light of women's fears and the idea of 'bringing' the 4B movement to the US, some male Republican affiliated social media figures have hit out in the response.
Nick Fuentes controversially wrote "your body, my choice" on X with Jon Miller condemning the 'sex strikes' of 4B by commenting "as if you have a say."
This further infuriated US women as one said: "Ladies, I'm being so fr [for real] when I say this. It's time to close off your wombs to males. This election proves now more than ever that they hate us and hate us proudly do not rewards them."
Another urged: "American women, it’s time to learn from the Koreans and adopt the 4B movement." While a third wrote: "The women in South Korea are doing it. It’s time we join them. Men will NOT be rewarded, nor have access to our bodies."
But will these 'sex strikes' have much impact in the US like they supposedly have done in South Korea?
Adam Lyons, dating coach, psychologist and opposer of misogyny, exclusively told us: "This movement is unlikely to affect casual sex either. The conversation will still happen, especially right now. Those in the 4B movement will discuss it, and potentially be less likely to go out in order to avoid those situations.
"If they do, they’re going to appeal to the left men more than the right.
"The average Trump supporter is going to want to date a stereotypical right-leaning woman into guns and pro America and so they’re going to select women unlikely to be into the 4B movement.
"When we look at how women voted in this election, Harris had a minor advantage among women, winning 53% to Trump’s 46% according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide that shows what issues mattered to voters in this election. This indicates that almost half of the women who voted actually voted for Trump.
"Considering it’s rare for people to date outside their political spectrum (though not impossible), it’s likely this movement will only affect men who voted for Harris.
"Meaning this movement may have no impact at all towards the change that those in the 4B movement want."
English (US) ·