4b Movement: Women’s Reaction to Rising Misogyny in Politics
Since the moment it became apparent that Donald Trump is set to see the White House once again in January, the results of the American election have been the subject of much discourse. Trump, accused of sexual misconduct by over twenty separate women [1], was responsible for the appointment of three of the Supreme Court Justices who voted in favour of overturning Roe v Wade [2] – and despite the fact he has denied connection with the widely controversial Project 2025, it does align with a considerable amount of his previous promises [3]. Many who fear their future under Trump’s misogynistic rule, as well as his self-professed ‘grab ‘em by the pussy’ [4] philosophy, have taken to social media in hordes to express sadness and terror over his landslide re-election. ‘What are we going to do?’ seems to be the common question. The solution many women have offered is the 4b movement.
The 4b movement, created by feminists, originated in South Korea as a way to combat the extreme equality gap faced by women living there – as well as the high rates of gender based violence toward them. [5]. ‘4b’ stands for four Korean words beginning with bi (no) –bihon, meaning no marriage, bichulsan, meaning no childbirth, biyeonae, meaning no dating, and bisekseu, meaning no sex. This, effectively, is a cultural boycotting of men – the aim of the movement is to stop reproducing with men, and to stop engaging in romantic and sexual relationships with them. Patriarchal culture is so deeply ingrained in South Korean society that many women participate in 4b because they see men as totally irretrievable from the depths of misogyny, and it gives them an out from ‘traditional’ roles of marriage and child rearing.
So, is it working? Well, it’s hard to know. Birth rates in South Korea reached a record low in 2023 – which could be attributed to the 4b movement, or to the falling South Korean fertility rates – even simply to a myriad of other factors. Indeed, the movement has not been happily accepted, with anti-feminist sentiment being extremely and violently prevalent all over South Korea. Even so, women of the USA have expressed more than a little interest in adopting this movement in the face of Donald Trump’s White House victory, with many posts by American women promoting 4b going viral across platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). One Tiktok with almost forty thousand likes contains a mock Christmas list wishing for ‘every woman/girl to follow the 4b movement until men change or die out [6].’ Not all share this sentiment, however; self proclaimed TikTok ‘homemaker’ Mrs. Filmore posted ‘something about this 4b movement makes me want to have another baby,’ receiving almost thirty-seven thousand likes [7].
It’s clearly a divisive subject, but the women posting about it seem resolute – there have been many viral videos of girls boasting about dumping their republican boyfriends in order to join the 4b movement. However, can this stick? Can Western culture shift dramatically enough to reject men in this way? Moreso, should it? We look out at this from Belfast, halfway across the world from America, where femicide rates are devastating, with four women being murdered in just the last six weeks [9]. In this sort of climate, it is not hard to see where the desire for a movement like this comes from, or why women wish to detach themselves from men. It is pure fear and desperation.
Does it mean that 4b is the solution? Not necessarily; however, women need change, and they desperately desire assurance of safety. For some, the best way to achieve that seems to be autonomously removing themselves from the equation as much as possible. From South Korean to the USA, 4b is a product of the culture, and the culture that creates a movement like this is a culture that is flawed to the core.
Sources
[1] The Guardian, ‘Sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump – a timeline’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/25/trump-sexual-misconduct-allegations-timeline
[2] Lee, Chantelle, ‘What Donald Trump’s Win Means for Abortion’ https://time.com/7096575/donald-trump-abortion-plan-2024/
[3] Leingang, Rachel, ‘What is Project 2025 and what is Trump’s involvement?’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/nov/04/what-is-project-2025-trump
[4] Makela, Mark, ‘Transcript: Donald Trump’s Taped Comments About Women’ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html
[5] Rashid, Raphael, ‘As 4B takes the world by storm, South Korea is grappling with a backlash against feminism.’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/15/4b-south-korea-feminist-movement-donald-trump-election-backlash
[8]https://x.com/fybregoth/status/1855732523046719864?s=46
[9] O’Carroll, Lisa, ‘Domestic abuse commissioner needed to tackle femicide in Northern Ireland, charity says’ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/10/domestic-abuse-commissioner-needed-to-tackle-femicide-in-northern-ireland-charity-says
