The 4B movement has been around since 2019 but didn’t gain much traction outside of Korea, at least not in its entirety. This changed when American women skyrocketed the search of 4B on Google following the results of the election, specifically skyrocketing by approximately 1000%. The results could become extreme for such a large-scale nation, especially with the increase of threats of violence as more women find themselves in support of the movement.
The 4B movement gained its name for the four Korean terms it’s built upon beginning with a ‘B’ sound, no sex with men (bisekseu), no child-rearing (bichulsan), no dating men (biyeonae), and no marriage to men (bihon). As reproductive rights were a major talking point leading up to the 2024 US election, a Republican win for the president, House, and Senate caused quite an upset for US women. As a result, many women aimed to before the year’s end update long-term birth control options such as IUDs, or choose abstinence which well aligns with the 4B goals.
Some women have taken it a step further and taken on a form of activism founded on the goal of publicizing the movement in Korea, shaving their heads to reject societal beauty standards. This act has resulted in some controversy on whether it’s offensive to associate bald and shaven heads with being against beauty standards due to women with alopecia or cancer having that happen without a choice in the matter. This concern misses the mark due to it not being about being beautiful or not, but about rejecting a standard around how women should look as every woman should be able to be different without it coming back on them.
The main thing is the conflict that has occurred from women choosing to participate in this movement, exemplifying exactly why women have concerns in the first place. Online it witnessed that women have come out against the movement, stating those participating are ‘delusional’ and won’t survive the movement very long, coming from primarily conservative women. Similarly to experiences in Korea, men have begun threatening violence against those participating stating they’ll ensure they can’t follow the values, statements receiving little backlash from social media platforms moderation systems.
The choice to participate is between a woman and herself, and even those who are unable to participate can support those who do. The increasing threats of violence should elicit concern from everyone participating or not, as it can showcase a sour turn in values within the nation as major changes are due to come. The 4B movement though originating in Korea has values open to any woman around the world who seeks to protest inequalities they experience, practicing the 4B’s. No sex with men (bisekseu), no child-rearing (bichulsan), no dating men (biyeonae), and no marriage to men (bihon).
