In a TikTok post that was liked by over a million users, TikTok user @rabbitsandtea, who goes by “A” is sitting on a couch, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. With her long brown hair loose, she sits petting her cat while hawk-like bird calls play in the background. The text on screen reads: “I’m doing my part as an American woman by breaking up with my Republican boyfriend last night and officially joining the 4b movement this morning.” »

She is one of many American women who now say they will refrain from dating, marrying, having sex and having children with men as a political protest. The term 4B refers to a feminist movement born in South Korea that espouses these principles.

The video, posted two days ago, has been shared more than 45,000 times and received a similar number of comments ranging from “Why did you have a Republican boyfriend in the first place?” » to “We will not miss you.” MAGA women are sexier than you.

For many women across the country, former President Donald Trump’s re-election spelled doom. reproductive freedom and women’s rights. Trump, accused of sexual abuse, also supported a House bill which banned most late-term abortions. In March, he expressed support for a national ban on pregnancies longer than 15 weeks and cited the overturning of Roe v. Wade by his government as a major victory of his last presidency.

As a result, anxious and afraid, several American women announced their intention to adopt 4B.

What is 4B?

The name 4B refers to four words that all start with bi, meaning no, in Korean.

South Korean Society is plagued by high rates of sexual violence against women, including technology-based abuse, such as the use of spy cameras to film women in private and public spaces. Society, where women continue to be excluded from the labor market, has strict gender norms. which inspired the movement to launch online as a way for women to organize against widespread sexism in society, particularly in response to a Murder of a woman in a public toilet in Seoul in 2016. The killer, who said he did it because women “always ignored him,” was not charged with a hate crime.

The #MeToo movement in 2018 strengthened feminist organizing in the country and the emerging “Escape the Corset” movement. The emerging resistance insisted that women needed to move away from societal expectations of wearing makeup, wearing “feminine” clothing, and not pandering to the male gaze.

How did the 4B movement spread?

According to the Global Inequality DatabaseSouth Korea “is characterized by relatively higher gender inequality and a lower share of elderly income compared to the United States and France.”

“South Korean women have increasingly joined the workforce in recent years. Despite the increase in the activity rate of women, it remains well below the average of member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Additionally, the pay gap between men and women is unfortunately a dominant trend across all professions. » gender pay gap survey on Statista.com reads.

Korean feminists have often cited wage inequality and women’s dependence on their higher-earning male partners as the main reason why more women have not been able to adopt 4B.

South Korea also has a a low birth rate which fell to 0.72 births per person in 2023. The cause, said President Yoon Suk Yeol, is feminism and women. Women, in response, objected to being treated as mere reproductive machines.

The 4B movement has gained traction on social media and group chats. This has led many women to cut their hair short, wear androgynous clothing and refuse to wear makeup. Faced with global demand for Korean beauty products, which was worth approximately 91.99 billion USD in 2022Korean women’s abstention from beauty products is a stance against patriarchal beauty standards but also an economic boycott that has manifested in several videos of young women breaking their makeup products on social networks.

What were the consequences of 4B?

The Cut reports that approximately In 2014 and 2015, Ilbe, “a virulently misogynistic and anti-feminist community,” rose to prominence in South Korea. Its members demonized women for asking too much when demanding equality with men. “For the Ilbe community, the entire female population is gold-hungry and shallow,” writes the Cut’s Anna Louie Sussman.

Young South Korean women following the 4B movement have reported higher incidences of violence directed against women with short hair. The Cut article is aimed at women who fear being photographed and doxxed.

TikTok user Lebabob released a video explaining the movement’s expansion to 7B now; adding the refusal to do emotional labor for men, strengthening solidarity among members of the 4B movement and boycotting products with a pink tax and misogynistic slogans. Other users have come up with ways to which married women can help the movement.

Why are American women now interested in 4B?

With more young Americans voting for Trumpwomen view adoption of 4B as a sex strike in the style of Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata, where women refused to have sex with their husbands, in an attempt to end the Peloponnesian War. The assumption is that these men agree with Trump’s views on abortion and should therefore be denied sexual and emotional relationships as punishment.

Some American women on TikTok, dismayed by Trump’s re-election, have taken to shaving their heads in social media videos, while others say they have adopted the movement since the Roe v ruling was overturned. . Wade. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for my mental health.” TikToker Ashli ​​​​P spoke about her decision to completely cut men out of her life. The “anti-men movement” drew criticism from more conservative women who took to TikTok to express their joy. to have more children and elevate them to the rank of Republicans to compensate.