By Meghana Pappu
On 5 November 2024, America chose to elect a bigoted, racist, and sexist felon who actively pursues a mission of recalling women’s and minority rights, under the label of white Nationalism. On 6 November 2024, White nationalist (and general internet bother), Nick Fuentes tweeted “Your body, my choice. Forever”. Consequently, there has been a grim realisation amongst women that the problem of misogyny in America is far deeper than it appears. Many have taken to TikTok to express their wish to push back.
I was surprised by their choice to adopt the 4B movement in response, and what this may mean for the future of feminist movements in the US.
The movement, which started in South Korea in the mid–2010s, is a radical feminist movement responding to systemic sexism and violent misogyny prevalent in society. It follows the core 4 bi’s (非, meaning “no”) – 비연애 (biyeonae, “no dating men”); 비혼 (bihon, “no marriage with men); 비섹스 (bisekseu, “no sex with men”); and finally, 비출산 (bichulsan, “no childbirth”). Cho Nam-Joo’s book, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is argued to have started the movement, representing the struggles of the “everywoman” in South Korea. Young women in particular internalised this, worn down by the gender discrimination embedded in their society; they found comfort in the movement’s decision to go beyond the fight against the patriarchy by rejecting it altogether. They believe this can only be achieved through decentring men from your life, seeing yourself as above just another association with a man (girlfriend, mother, wife, and so on).
The rate at which the movement gained popularity is a point of interest for feminist scholars. As Lee Na-Young, a sociology professor at Seoul’s Chung–Ang University, puts it – “The patriarchal norms in South Korea, given its economic status and the educational level of its women, are so relentless that the resistance against it tends to be just as intense. Movements like 4B are a message of warning that women would boycott romantic relationships unless society and men change.”
The movement’s popularity is not complicated to understand; it threatens to withhold that which men seek power in (dating, marriage, sex, and parenthood). This has clearly had some success as reflected by South Korea’s birth and fertility rates, which are some of the lowest among OECD countries.
Despite this, nothing has significantly changed in South Korean society.
The unintended consequence of the radical movement was that young men (often between 19–25 years of age) felt increasingly marginalised by the movement and instead resorted to adopting radical ideologies of their own – those reflecting that of the far-right. This ranged from electing the candidate that vowed to disband the Gender Equality Ministry and turning the label “feminist” into a slur, going so far as labelling popular figures “feminist”, encouraging vitriol and hatred for said celebrities and their fans.
While the 4B movement certainly proved to be very strong in South Korea, it also succeeded in furthering the divide between the genders, causing the nation to be more polarised than ever before.
And this is exactly what I fear for America.
The idea of withholding sex from men as a form of political resistance is nothing new. The rapid, almost manic, adoption of the 4B movement shows how dire American women think the circumstances surrounding women’s and minority rights in the US are. That being said, however, many have a reason to believe that this solution is not viable for the West. Take for instance, the exclusionary nature of the movement; not only does it exclude married women (and by extension, women with children), but it is also rooted in extremely transphobic ideologies such as bioessentialism.
And that is, in my opinion, the issue with the movement– it doesn't cater to the diverse range of people impacted by the Trump administration within the cultural context of the US. In fact, I think it has the potential to cause more damage than good, especially in the way it excludes queerness from its conversations.
"The unintended consequence of the radical movement was that young men (often between 19–25 years of age) felt increasingly marginalised by the movement and instead resorted to adopting radical ideologies of their own – those reflecting that of the far-right."
To quote Hawon Jung, a journalist and author of Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea's Feminist Movement & What It Means for Women's Rights Worldwide:
“Although many women in the U.S. vow to embrace the four creeds of the 4B, I see a lot of differences compared to Korea in terms of where their voices are focused – partly because the whole social context that gave rise to the movement in the two countries are quite different.”
“4B is at the extreme end of the whole spectrum of women in South Korea who choose to stay single and childless; extreme, in part, because of hostility towards trans women. Many of these young radical feminists in South Korea claim that other feminists, including mainstream women's rights groups, have lost focus by allying with other social minority groups fighting for, for example, labour rights, disability rights, or even sexual minorities' rights, and vow to support ‘biological women only.’”
So, does that mean nothing will change?
Not quite.
Despite the apprehension and exclusionary tendencies of the 4B movement, I think it has a strong potential to create change, or at the least spark productive discourse; if – and this is a very strong hypothetical – women and minorities in America adapt the movement to fit the cultural context and diversity of the country better. Even without a movement, it is evident that more and more women are adopting a lifestyle that de-centres men. However, announcing what you’re doing draws criticism, and further encourages young men to adopt and internalise red-pilled, misogynistic content and continue the young man-to-misogynist-alt-right-wing pipeline.
The question we should ask is not “will the movement be successful in America?”, but rather “Can the idea of the movement spark actual, progressive change for the women and minorities in America?”
Image: Ted Eytan / Wikipedia
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