Following a significant political victory for former President Donald Trump, online searches in the United States for “4B” surged. This term refers to a fringe feminist movement originating in South Korea that gained prominence in the mid to late 2010s. The name “4B” itself is rooted in the Korean word for “no” (비 – bi), and the movement is characterized by a series of rejections.
The core tenets of the 4B movement can be summarized as four “nos”: no sex, no dating, no marriage to men, and no childbearing. This philosophy of abstention is resonating with a growing number of young women, particularly on platforms like Instagram and TikTok in America. The movement’s increasing visibility in the U.S. is seen as a reaction against a perceived conservative political climate and concerns over the erosion of women’s reproductive rights.
Michaela Thomas, a 21-year-old artist from Georgia, shared with The Washington Post her introduction to the 4B movement about a year prior. Her perspective encapsulates a common sentiment among adherents: “Young men expect sex, but they also want us to not be able to have access to abortion,” Thomas stated. “They can’t have both. Young women don’t want to be intimate with men who don’t fight for women’s rights; it’s showing they don’t respect us.” This quote highlights the movement as a form of personal and political protest.
Young women are crucial in political movements and are urging for their voices to be heard
The concept of women withholding sexual intimacy as a form of protest is not new. Historically, examples such as the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata,” where women denied men sex to end the Peloponnesian War, illustrate this tactic. In South Korea, the 4B movement emerged during a period of intense national introspection regarding gender-based violence and broader issues of gender equality. South Korea notably has one of the most significant wage gaps between genders among developed nations, providing a fertile ground for feminist activism.
The rise of the 4B movement in the United States reflects a growing ideological divergence between young men and women. Data from The Financial Times indicates that women aged 18 to 30 in the US are considerably more liberal than their male counterparts, by as much as 30 percent. Experts suggest that the #MeToo movement of 2018 played a pivotal role in galvanizing feminist values among women, which in turn has been met with a backlash from some segments of young men. This socio-political context helps explain why a movement like 4B, advocating for female autonomy and separation from traditional gender roles, is finding an audience in contemporary America.
