Americans react to election by joining Korean feminist movement

In the wake of Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, a radical feminist movement from South Korea, the “4B movement,” has found new traction among young women in the United States.

The 4B movement emerged in the late 2010s as South Korean women grappled with rising cases of misogyny, violence and systemic inequalities. As explained in a research study from Yonsei University in South Korea, the name is shorthand for “bi,” the Korean word for “no.”

Proponents of the movement reject four central tenets: no sex with men, no dating or marrying men, no children and no patriarchy.

Insights from the Washington Post connect the movement’s increased support back to the murder of a 23-year-old woman in Seoul’s Gangnam Station in 2016. This tragedy, paired with the rise of the #MeToo movement, catalyzed a feminist awakening, propelling the 4B movement into action.

Though initially a South Korean phenomenon, the movement has crossed borders, gaining visibility on social media platforms, where it is increasingly popular among American women.

The Independent reports a series of posts on X where American women share their embrace of the movement.

“Ladies, we need to start considering the 4B movement like the women in South Korea and give America a severely sharp birth rate decline,” a woman posted on X.

As online searches and discussions of the 4B movement spiked in the hours following Trump’s victory, many women adopted this ideology as a form of protest against systematic limitations.

Trump’s staunch anti-abortion stance, alongside his vocal support for the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, was seen as a direct assault on women’s reproductive rights, suggests Newsweek.

The Independent connects this back to the shifting cultural attitudes and gender roles, where some men have become more inclined to vote conservatively and back Trump in hopes of restoring more traditional values.

The rising concerns over gender inequality, paired with the tense political climate anticipating Trump’s return to office, have driven this recent surge in the 4B movement and rejection of traditional gender norms.

It is also worth noting the critiques and controversy surrounding the movement. The Guardian discusses how some feminists have expressed concern over whether the protest is a productive way to address gender disparities or if it further divides an already polarized nation.

As online communities continue to embrace the movement, it’s clear that the discourse surrounding gender and autonomy will only grow more complex in the years to come.