Korea’s birth rate has steadily dropped, causing concerns about what will happen if more children aren’t born in the coming years. Many women of the nation have said part of why is the lack of support from the country and companies for women who choose to have children, often running them out with the explanation that women should focus on the home. Another reason why is an increase in disrespectful and aggressive behaviors from men in the nation, being described as believing they are entitled to be with women. The women of the nation have decided to show not only how important they are as people, but how they won’t stand for the mistreatment.

The 4B movement gained its name due to the 4 rules beginning with a ‘B’ sound when spoken in Korean. No sex with men (bisekseu), no child-rearing (bichulsan), no dating men (biyeonae), and no marriage with men (bihon). It gained traction in 2019, being a feminist movement against the nation’s rigid rules applied to women that also came to affect the way those who aren’t women view them. The movement is believed to have begun at the perfect time as the government is pushing incentives in an attempt to raise their birth rate, though none of these incentives are designed to support women anymore, merely encouraging them to quickly get with someone and have more children. 

The movement so far has been successful in the sense it’s visible that it has an impact on the birth rate as well, showing statistically the need for women for the nation to survive as it wants to. A sad outcome is an increase in abuse from men, some claiming women are now failing their ‘duties’ as women within this movement, using it as a reason behind an increase in digital and physical sex crimes against women. Some men have also moved to directly and publicly criticize online supporters of the movement, including approaching 4B women in public on the matter.

Another interesting outcome was the globalization of the movement, with women in other nations choosing to also participate in protests of their own nations’ struggles with women’s rights and treatment. Countries like the United States and Ireland have many women coming online and announcing their participation in the 4B’s to protest against things like loss of reproductive rights, increased amounts of violence toward women with minimal persecution, as well as general societal roles unwillingly assigned to women. Men across the affected nations have similarly claimed it to be a ‘radical’ feminist movement that encourages women to deny their ‘duties’ in life, as well as claiming it is a personal attack on men. 

Despite all this, the movement serves as a great example that when protesting, unless major changes and more groups are affected it won’t make enough traction to gain attention. Calls for change need to create changes, make themselves noticeable and unignorable, and sometimes disrupt other parts of society to make others care. Disturb the current standards so people have to turn and look, hear, and learn what needs to be said and done. Korean women who originated the 4B movement encourage women from any nation to protest using its motto: no sex with men, no child-rearing, no dating men, no marriage with men.