Over the past 24 hours, Democrats across the United States have been reckoning with the results of the presidential election, which ended with a win for Republican Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, making it clear that most of the country aligns with the MAGA leader’s anti-women, anti-diversity, and anti-truth values. This, of course, has brought a wave of worry over blue states, while also inciting a call to action, particularly from women, to continue the fight to protect our rights and reproductive freedoms—despite the Trump team and Project 2025’s plans to squash them for good.
All of this sudden concern, rage, and spur of energy amongst women in the U.S. and their allies has pushed many of us into a new side of TikTok—holy be the algorithm—one ruled by South Korean women who, having been repeatedly disrespected by the patriarchy, have decided to swear off men entirely. And I mean entirely.
No, it’s not Barbie Land; this is called the 4B movement, a niche and yes, extreme, brand of Korean feminism in which its followers vow to respect the four “no’s”: no sex, no dating (men), no marriage (to men), and no children.
Ahead, everything you need to know about the 4B movement.
Where did 4B originate?
The online feminist movement began in the late 2010s, at a time when South Korea was experiencing a surge in violence against women and countless gender equality issues. While it started small at first, the problems in the country—and the world—continued to pile up, and with time, the movement’s followers grew. These issues included the 2016 murder of a 23-year-old Korean woman in a public bathroom by a man who said he was angry because women had “always ignored him.” It also included the U.S.’s #MeToo movement in 2018, which quickly spread around the globe and gained a force of its own. For years since, women of different cultures have launched protests against sexual assault and violence, and even on social media have turned to outwardly reject toxic male ideologies by doing things like chopping off their hair, crushing their makeup palettes, and refusing to dress for the male gaze. A current TikTok trend sees women showing off their outfits while proudly stating that they know all the men who see them will hate how they look.
Who are the 4B participants?
Some millennials and Gen Zers who are regularly exposed to social media content from people who follow the 4B motto, and who ultimately sympathize with their reasoning.
Why is it called 4B?
“B” is shorthand for the word “no” in Korean. So, 4B refers to the four no’s: no sex, dating, marriage, or kids—with men.
Why did the movement go viral in the U.S.?
Now that Donald Trump is about to become our president again, the women are worried. The Republican helped overturn Roe v. Wade, a document which protected women’s constitutional right to abortion. And his right-wing allies, including those responsible for Project 2025, have even more harshly threatened abortion, birth control access, and any freedoms women have over their own bodies.
Trump has also made it clear that he will eliminate educational resources across the country, ignore climate change, improve the economy only for the rich, and not protect the LGBTQ+ community or immigrants. And seeing as how the majority of the people who voted for Trump are men, can you really blame some women for wanting to stay away from the entire male species now?
How do men feel?
Unsurprisingly, conservative men—both in South Korea and in the U.S.—are enraged. In the U.S. the movement is still new, but in South Korea, some have tied the country’s declining birth rate to radical feminist trends such as 4B. Time will tell how far it goes.
