Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
A South Korean feminist movement which calls for boycotting of men and heterosexual relationships has been trending on social media in the US following the election result.
The 4B movement advocates for women to commit to no sex, dating or marriage to men and no children. The name originates from the Korean phrases for each of those actions: bisekseu; biyeonae; bihon and bichulsan.
Its origins are tied to the spillover of the #MeToo movement into South Korea in the late-2010s, backlash against president Yoon Suk Yeol’s courting of “anti-feminist” male voters and general economic disparities for women.
But discussion of 4B by women on TikTok and Instagram in the US comes with a specific focus: boycotting young men who voted for Trump.
“Young men expect sex, but they also want us to not be able to have access to abortion. They can’t have both,” 21-year-old Michaela Thomas tells the Washington Post.
