Profile: What is the 4B movement and why is it popular online?

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What is this? The 4B movement originated in South Korea as a radical feminist statement to abstain from interacting with men due to the country’s patriarchal society.

And 4B means? 4B stands for the four letters “B” or “Nos” in Korean. They are “bisekseu” (do not have sex with men); “biyeonae” (no dating of men allowed); “bihun” (forbidden to marry men); and “bichulsan” (not having children).

Where did this idea come from? It’s actually a very old idea for women to abstain from contact with men as a way to whip them into shape. Probably one of the earliest examples is from Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata. Originally released in 411 BC, it tells the story of a group of Greek women who withhold sex from men to force an end to the Peloponnesian War.

How did the movement start in South Korea? It all started around 2016 with Escape the Corset, a social media-led movement that saw South Korean women discussing the ways in which Korean society’s restrictive feminine norms contributed to a misogynistic society. The 4B movement gained further momentum the following year when South Korean women began coming forward about the abuse they had suffered as part of the #MeToo movement.

If the 4B movement dates back to 2016, why is it trending now? Obviously Donald Trump. After the results of the 2024 presidential election came out earlier this week, Google searches for the movement rose 450%, with 200,000 people searching for it on Wednesday.

What is contact? President-elect Trump and the Republican Party have made it abundantly clear how they feel about women’s rights. Thanks to Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices, Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, making abortion no longer a federal right. Restricting women’s access to abortion across the country is a big part of his agenda. From a broader angle, Trump’s election legitimizes a man accused by numerous women of sexual assault, who was convicted of sexual assault and paid $80 million (74 million euros) in compensation to the victim. What also became clear with the election results is that Trump’s attitude toward women is mirrored by many other American men. Whether due to Trump’s direct influence or if his rise is the result of a shift in culture, young men are increasingly falling under the influence of misogynists like Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan. One prime example of the culture surrounding the Trump campaign’s victory was John Miller’s Wednesday tweet in which he said “women are threatening sex strikes like LMAO as if you have an opinion” which currently has over 50 million views and 17,000 likes.

Will 4B work? It depends on what you mean by “work”. Will this be the end of all women interacting with men across the United States? Absolutely not. There’s not even that much of a discrepancy between the way women voted for the candidates. 43% of women ages 18 to 44 voted for Trump. Perhaps most surprising is that 53% of white women voted for him, compared to 46% for Kamala Harris.

So it doesn’t make sense? Not so fast. Widespread heterosexual abstinence is certainly not going to happen. But this does not mean that the 4B movement will not have an impact. If nothing else, it has taken over social media within days, and articles like this show that the movement is having a cultural impact. A minority of women may adhere to the movement’s principles, but the majority of people who discuss it use it as a talking point to highlight the misogyny deeply ingrained in society. Even the mere threat the movement poses has sent many Trump fans into a state of panic. As more women register their dissatisfaction with the way men behave, perhaps this will lead to some form of change.