In the 48 hours following the 2024 US Presidential election, the term “4B movement” had over 500,000 searches on Google. Many women have been discussing the ramifications of adopting the South Korean women’s movement in the US. The 4B movement was created in 2015 as a branch of the #metoo movement and as a response to gender inequality in South Korea, a country with one of the highest gender pay gaps in the world and high rates of gender-based violence. The movement, mostly composed of young women in their twenties, essentially involves swearing off men. 4B is Korean shorthand for four no’s: bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae, and bisekseu, which translates to no dating, marrying, childbirth with, or sex with men.
Although the movement is losing its traction in Korea, in the United States the campaign is gaining popularity among young women who are fearful and upset by the presidential election results. Given the overturning of national abortion rights, the future four years with a sexual abuser in office, and the threat of a potential federal abortion ban, many women are looking to do what they can to protect their safety and health as well as make a statement about the future of women’s health issues. Many women have found the recent election to be a wake-up call to the views of a large number of American men who show little concern for women’s health, leading them to adopt the 4B mantra.
Conservative and Christian women have also shown support for the movement from another perspective. According to Bernadine Bluntly, a Christian mom with a large online presence, “Rejecting the sexual revolution mindset of casual sex is for your own good. When God set rules and boundaries, it wasn’t to withhold freedom and fun from us, it was to secure protection and stability and joy.” Conservative Christian women encourage others to adopt the 4B movement as a way to forgo casual dating and be more selective with one’s body. “Being highly selective about which man you’ll have and raise children with is crucial,” Bernadine states. However, these women seem to be missing the point. Women who elect to join the 4B movement will not marry or have kids with any man, not even one they have been “highly selective” about.
Meanwhile, some women are worried that the movement will only have the opposite of its desired effect. There is fear that pushback against men will only lead to increased control and antagonism towards women. Some speculate that as men feel their power slipping away, they will enact harsher rules to maintain control.
Even if the movement became widely adopted, it’s unlikely that it would make men and politicians rethink their stance on women’s health issues. In South Korea, swearing off men is a much larger and impactful statement than it is in the US. For women in Korea, choosing a life without marriage ensures their fate as social outcasts. Unmarried women in Korea are not seen as full adults, but rather as pariahs. However, in the US, unmarried women are not viewed as social outcasts, and choosing to swear off men has become increasingly more common. Several movements in the US aim to de-center the role of men in one’s life. For example, many young women have light-heartedly referred to cutting out male influence and relationships as “boy sober.” Swearing off men is not nearly as radical in the US as it is in Korea and; therefore, unlikely to have the desired powerful impact. However, as the consequences of dangerous legislation become more real, and the future of women’s health more uncertain, women need to take careful consideration of what is best for the protection and safety of their bodies.
International Studies major with a passion for gossip and chai lattes.
