The results of the 2024 Presidential election leave marginalized people looking for ways to make their voices heard, some finding opportunity and community in the 4B movement.
The 4B movement is a feminist movement from South Korea that rejects heterosexual relationships as a way to resist systemic misogyny and patriarchy, according to CBS. The name “4B” stems from Korean words beginning with “bi,” which means “no.” “Bihon” means no marriage, “bichulsan” means no childbirth, “biyeonae” means no dating and “bisekseu” means no sex, according to CBS. This movement in South Korea was largely in response to the wage gap in Korea, which was at the highest percentage among countries included in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as of 2022.
In wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, many women in America are turning to the 4B movement. As of Nov. 22, the hashtag has garnered over 27k posts on TikTok — where the movement is seeing the most attention. This is a perfectly reasonable response for those of us willing to commit to it, which will not include every woman, and I am not saying it should. But, it is a means of protesting against the 55% of men, according to The Washington Post, who did not see anything wrong with voting for a man who has been held legally liable for sexual abuse and has continuously made sexist and demeaning comments towards women.
Additionally, Trump’s victory emboldens men like Nick Fuentes, who recently went viral for his tweet saying “Your body, my choice. Forever.” Additionally, videos of him spewing similar sexist rhetoric have also gone viral on TikTok. If this was one hateful individual who somehow gained this much online attention, perhaps an entire movement would not be in order. But, as many women know, this is not one man. This is an attitude embedded in American society and highlighted when our president feeds it. The 4B movement in America may have come from slightly different origins than South Korea’s, but women having the means to fight back is powerful, regardless of which country is ruled by patriarchy.
In addition to the rampant misogyny in America(n politics), many women are fearful of what has happened and what could happen to their reproductive rights, considering Trump’s pride in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Because of overturning Roe v. Wade and the potential implementation of Project 2025, American women are scared and using the 4B movement as a way of pushing against the patriarchy men are continuing to uphold.
Project 2025 is a conservative playbook proposing abortion laws that would take America back to the 19th Century, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Trump claims he is not linked to Project 2025 despite the facts his Vice President-elect JD Vance wrote the foreword to the leader of Project 2025’s new book, and his appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr wrote the chapter regarding the FCC, according to NBC. The 4B movement seeks to demonstrate that there are consequences to the men who either knowingly voted for these ideologies or did not take the time to educate themselves about who they voted for and what he does — both literally and the action he empowers.
According to a columnist from the New York Times, American women risk alienating those who “would be our allies while ensuring little actually changes about our reality.” While the 4B movement may not produce tangible results that can be measured on a graph, I am confused on who these “allies” are. Americans gave a misogynist power. If denying these men physical and emotional relationships is all women can do to protest, it is important. Despite not making huge societal changes, it is a protest and form of solidarity to other women’s suffering.
