In the days since Donald Trump won the 2024 election, you may have been seeing references to the 4B movement pop up on your FYP. It’s billed as a way for women to build solidarity with each other and to resist the patriarchy in their everyday lives. But what is the 4B movement, and could it actually work?
How did 4B start?
The 4B movement originated in South Korea in the 2010s, at around the same time the #MeToo movement took hold in the United States. In Korean, “B” is shorthand for the word bi, meaning “no.” The four “Bs” are bisekseu (no sex with men), bichulsan (no giving birth), biyeonae (no dating men), and bihon (no marrying men), per The Cut.
The movement began in response to high rates of violence against women, including the 2016 murder of a young woman in a public bathroom in Seoul, per the Washington Post. Since the mid-2010s, the movement has grown, mostly online on TikTok and Instagram, with women vowing to cease personal romantic relationships with men.
Jung Se-young, a 4B YouTuber, has said, “Marriage is the root cause of patriarchy in South Korea,” per Reuters.
What are the 5B, 6B, and other movements?
Recently, the four Bs have grown to include additional protests, including no purchasing “pink tax” items such as makeup and beauty products, and a commitment by 4B women to support other 4B women. Some social media users also include a seventh “B,” which refers to no more free emotional labor for men.
The movement has also spread to China, where it is referred to as “6B4T,” and became subject to government censorship in 2021, per Reuters.
What has the impact been?
South Korea now has the lowest fertility rate in the world, per the New York Times, and in 2020, it recorded more deaths than births. The Conservative-led government has been responding to the crisis, but in some ways it has led to crackdowns against feminist efforts rather than expanding gender equality.
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As popular feminist TikTok comedian and influencer Drew Afualo explained, “Turns out women are a lot more essential than you would think, huh?”
Is there a 4B movement in the United States?
Like the #MeToo movement, 4B has spread across countries through online platforms, and it is beginning to be picked up by American women. “Young men expect sex, but they also want us to not be able to have access to abortion. They can’t have both,” one young 4B proponent told the Washington Post.
