Why after the US elections there was a sudden interest among women in a South Korean movement

() – In the hours and days since it became clear that Donald Trump would be re-elected president of the United States, there has been a surge in interest in the country in 4B.

Young liberal women on TikTok and Instagram are discussing and sharing information about the South Korean feminist movement, in which straight women refuse to marry, have children, date or have sex with men.

These women say they are angry and fed up after a majority of their male counterparts voted for a candidate they believe was responsible for sexual abuse and whose nomination of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court led to the nullification of national protections for abortion rights. .

In response, they say they are giving up on men and encouraging other people to join.

“We have humiliated ourselves and begged for the safety of men and done all the things we were supposed to do, and yet they hate us,” Ashli ​​Pollard, a 36-year-old woman in St. Louis, told .

“So if they’re going to hate us, then we’re going to do what we want,” he added.

4B is an abbreviation of the four Korean words bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae and bisekseu, which translate as no marriage, no childbirth, no dating and no sex with men.

The 4B movement emerged in South Korea between 2015 or 2016, according to Ju Hui Judy Han, an assistant professor of gender studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mostly popular among women in their 20s, the academic described it as a fringe offshoot of #MeToo and other feminist movements that emerged in response to the country’s stark gender inequality.

In 2016, a woman was brutally murdered near a subway station in Seoul — the perpetrator allegedly said he killed her because he felt ignored by women. The incident sparked a wave of outrage and a national reckoning over how women are treated in the country, which later expanded to include conversations about femicide, revenge porn and digital sex crimes.

Feminism and gender division have been hot topics in South Korea. Women in the country earn about a third less than men, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the largest pay gap among OECD nations. And despite being one of the most advanced economies in the world, women are underrepresented in senior and managerial roles.

The 4B movement emerged and developed in a decentralized manner and existed in various online and offline iterations, making it difficult to assess its true size and scope. Over time, the movement has declined and fragmented due to disagreements over the role of queer and trans women, according to Han. But she says the 4B and other South Korean feminist movements drew attention to gender inequality in the country. and they placed emphasis on collective action.

“It’s not a widespread movement, but I think a lot of people identify with the sentiments behind it,” Han says.

“When there is so much widespread violence against women, there is so much discrimination and systemic inequity, when there is so much that makes marriage, childbirth and parenting difficult, why and how could anyone imagine getting married and giving birth? ?”, he questioned.

Although South Korea’s 4B movement has largely disappeared from media headlines in recent years, the US elections have reignited interest.

“Many of us—whether we are straight or not, queer or not, whether we are in a marriage or not—will be in the same boat, dealing with oppressive and violent institutions,” says Han. “And we see each other.”

US elections are inspiring conversations around 4B

It’s too early to tell whether the 4B movement could seriously resonate in the U.S. But so far, at least, it’s generated a lot of online discussion among young women.

Some women are rediscovering the movement and vowing to join. Others who are already married or partnered say they plan to protest in other ways, such as boycotting male-owned businesses or refusing to do emotional labor for men.

Pollard says she learned about South Korea’s 4B movement a few years ago, which inspired her to “examine what a life without focusing so much on men looks like.” Since 2022, she says she has not dated or had sex with men and has realized that she is better off alone. She has the resources to support herself without marriage and plans to have a child alone.

Her decision to disassociate herself from the men was not necessarily an act of revenge, she says. Rather, it was about putting herself first. Now that other women across the country have shown interest in 4B, she says she wants them to realize there are other options.

“You push people enough and they’re done,” he says. “How will that affect politics? We’ll see… but I think that women and their joy are going to be something that can no longer be overlooked. “Women are choosing themselves in droves.”

Alexa Vargas, a 26-year-old woman from Boston, says she stopped associating with men a few years ago after a series of unhealthy relationships that included abuse and assault, and it wasn’t until earlier this year that she realized there was a movement and language that aligned with their actions. Although she says that “men need a wake-up call,” her decision has more to do with her and other women.

“I don’t know if men are going to change their ways. “I don’t know how this will play out,” he says. “My goal in life and in this movement is to protect young women and girls.”

Women who have been talking about 4B online say the way some men have responded to their posts is already proving their point.

Abby K., a 27-year-old woman from Florida, recently broke up with her boyfriend over disparaging comments he made about Trump’s history of sexual abuse. When she posted a video about it and her decision to join the 4B movement, she says men flooded her inbox with death threats and hateful comments about her appearance.

“It’s not exactly an incentive to re-enter the dating world,” he adds.

In Han’s view, the 4B movement is unlikely to become mainstream in the US.

She says it relies too much on the gender binary and that those inspired to unite as a result of the election are overlooking the fact that many women also voted for Trump. (Although Vice President Kamala Harris maintained a lead among women, exit polls indicate that lead was smaller than that of Joe Biden or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their respective presidential campaigns.)

Hadia Khanani, a 24-year-old woman from Florida, also has reservations about 4B in the U.S. Although she hasn’t dealt with men romantically for several years as a way to prioritize herself, she wants women to dig deeper and examine their own role in supporting of the patriarchy. He is also concerned about the consequences of further isolating men.

“The online conversation has focused on sleeping and dating men, obviously to protect themselves, but I feel like misogyny and patriarchy run much deeper than that,” she says. “I think a lot of it is rooted in the way men are raised in society.”

Even if large numbers of women do not adopt the strict principles of 4B, those who are participating for now hope that recent conversations about it will lead women to think differently about themselves and their circumstances.

“I don’t expect every single person in the country to hold hands and agree not to date men,” says Abby K. “(But) I could definitely see it fueling change in some way.”

Han predicts that American interest in the 4B movement will fade quickly. Still, she hopes the recent discourse around it will help women understand that they are not alone in their struggles and build solidarity with others around the world.

“I think a lot of American women are trying to find ways to empower themselves and find a way to survive,” Han says. “And I hope that what they find is not necessarily a particular movement like 4B, but a recognition that struggles for “Reproductive justice and gender equality are certainly not just American concerns.”

‘s Leda Joy Abkenari contributed to this report.