South Korea’s 4B movement gains momentum in U.S. after election — Here’s what it means

The 4B movement urging women not to prosecute with men romantically oregon sexually has gained momentum successful the U.S. aft Donald Trump was re-elected president connected Tuesday, driven successful portion by young antheral voters.

The feminist protestation appears to beryllium motivated by aggregate positions Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have taken connected women’s issues, astir specifically, reproductive rights.

In the aftermath of the election’s results, immoderate women person vowed to unrecorded by the codification of the 4B movement. Here’s what you request to know:

What is the 4B movement? 

4B is simply a South Korean movement that gets its sanction from a derivative of the Korean connection “bi.” The question discourages heterosexual matrimony (bihon), childbirth (bichulsan), intersexual relationships with men (bisekseu) and dating men (biyeonae), according to an investigation published by South Korea’s Yonsei University successful 2021.

The movement, besides known arsenic the “4 Nos,” is seen arsenic a effect to a misogynistic and patriarchal culture. It offers “young feminists the accidental to envision the aboriginal that they had been discouraged from imagining.”

What spawned 4B? 

The emergence of 4B coincided with the emergence of South Korea’s President Yoon Seok-yeol. The blimpish person was made the nation’s caput authoritative successful 2019 and became president successful 2022.

Yonsei University’s survey describes 4B activism arsenic being captious of a “pro-natalist crook successful authorities policy,” paired with practices that beforehand the involvement of women.

“We reason that the 4B question and its discourses connected the aboriginal and self-help could connection these women 1 imaginable mode to envision a feminist aboriginal arsenic individuals without being portion of the state’s reproductive future,” researchers wrote.

Activist women anticipation to nonstop a connection that if they don’t person bureau implicit their ain bodies, men can’t interaction them either.

How is the 4B question increasing successful the U.S.?

After Trump defeated Democratic campaigner Kamala Harris this week, Google searches for 4B saw a melodramatic climb. More than a half-million radical looked it up implicit a 48-hour clip period.

Discussions astir the taxable besides took clasp connected societal media platforms like X and TikTok. One X idiosyncratic successful Florida jokingly wished men successful her authorities “good luck” trying to person enactment connected the greeting aft Trump won.

Donald Trump is ending intersexual promiscuity earlier adjacent been sworn in. A Top G. #4B pic.twitter.com/u8RzEyDTHb

— Interesting Facts (@Interesting228) November 7, 2024

“Me and my girlies are participating successful the 4B movement,” she said. “That’s my adjacent program and I’m dormant f—ing serious.”

Another idiosyncratic posted, “These Gen Z men who got radicalized aren’t going to get ANY.” 

Polling showed Trump did good with young men calved betwixt 1997 and 2012. The Wall Street Journal showed a 15-point leap successful right-leaning authorities among that demographic from 2020 to 2024.

What person Trump and Vance done to upset immoderate women voters?

While the nation’s 2 highest-ranking Republican leaders bask immoderate enactment from pistillate voters, they’ve alienated galore others with their comments and actions.

Republican statesmanlike nominee erstwhile President Donald Trump is pictured astatine an predetermination nighttime ticker party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, successful West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump was archetypal elected president successful 2016 contempt the last-minute merchandise of an audiotape connected which helium boasted that, arsenic a celebrity, helium tin “grab women” by their backstage parts and bash arsenic helium pleases.

In 2023, a civilian tribunal recovered him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a section store dressing country decades earlier.

During his archetypal term, Trump enactment 3 right-wing justices connected the U.S. Supreme Court, who worked to bounds women’s reproductive choices by overturning the law close to an abortion.

Vance shares Trump’s authorities connected reproductive rights. He besides angered immoderate women voters by a resurfaced interrogation successful which helium described pistillate Democrats arsenic “a clump of childless feline ladies who are miserable astatine their ain lives and the choices that they’ve made and truthful they privation to marque the remainder of the state miserable, too.”

I similar the caller thought from the #4BMovement astir not engaging oregon speaking with men whenever we can. That sounds truthful peaceful. We tin conscionable disregard and block. Let their loneliness epidemic spread. pic.twitter.com/Zk4VE2LhHe

— 4B Childless Cat Lady (@ElegantBW) November 8, 2024

Several salient women who don’t person kids, including celebrities similar Taylor Swift and Jennifer Aniston, lashed retired astatine Vance implicit that statement.

“Mr. Vance, I commune that your girl is fortunate capable to carnivore children of her ain 1 day,” the 55-year-old “Friends” prima said connected Instagram.

Will the 4B movement have immoderate interaction aft Trump becomes president connected Jan. 20?

We’ll see.