The 4B movement from South Korea—a radical feminist campaign urging women to abandon dating, marriage, childbearing, and even sex—has started making waves in the United States, sparked by a viral surge on social media in the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election. For some American women, the reelection of Trump and the rightward political shift in the U.S. has brought simmering frustrations to a boil, pushing them toward this no-compromise movement for autonomy.
The 4B movement, short for bi-hon (no marriage), bi-yeonae (no dating), bi-chulsan (no birthing), and bi-sex (no sex), emerged in Korea as a response to rising violence against women, widening gender inequality, and a cultural backlash against feminism. The gender pay gap in South Korea remains one of the highest among developed nations, while horrific cases of gender-based violence fill the news. Women in Korea have rallied around the 4B movement as both a survival strategy and a protest, saying they’re done with societal norms that put them in harm’s way. Now, as videos and tweets from Korean feminists circulate, American women are taking note.
In the U.S., the movement’s popularity highlights the gender chasm that’s grown as American politics has taken an increasingly polarizing turn. While 57 percent of women supported Kamala Harris’s ticket, only 40 percent of men did—a sharp indication of how much gender predicts political alignment in today’s climate. Young men flocked to Trump, motivated by a “bro” culture that frames traditional masculinity as a political stance. With issues like reproductive rights under threat and openly sexist rhetoric on the rise, it’s no wonder that young women feel more vulnerable, alienated, and angry.
One viral video post-election showed young women pledging to the 4B philosophy, rejecting relationships with men who might share Trump’s worldview, as a way to take control in a climate they feel has turned against them. As one TikToker shared, she broke up with her Republican boyfriend in favor of adopting the 4B mindset.
For advocates of 4B, the movement isn’t just about rejecting men—it’s about self-preservation. Soha, a Korean feminist, calls it a “labor strike” against the unpaid emotional and social work women are often expected to perform in relationships. “It’s about saying ‘no’ to patriarchal systems that see women as support units for men’s lives,” she explains. Some American women echo this sentiment, viewing the movement as a form of personal empowerment.
Hyejin Jeon, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland who studies Korean feminism, sees the American embrace of 4B as a reflection of deep-seated frustrations among young women. For them, the American Dream—complete with dating, marriage, and children—feels less like a path to happiness and more like a trap, set by men who still don’t view them as equals. “The 4B discourse in the U.S. prompts us to reflect on how much society has taken for granted or overlooked the rights and freedoms that women rightly deserve,” Jeon notes.
But 4B isn’t without its critics. Even in Korea, many feminists are divided, with some viewing the movement as too extreme and exclusionary. Married women are seen as “serving the needs of men,” which has alienated some who might otherwise support feminist ideals. The same divisions are starting to surface in the U.S., with debates about whether women with male partners can fully participate in the movement.
Critics argue that the 4B movement’s radical stance could provoke an even harsher backlash, potentially empowering anti-feminist forces to paint the movement as extreme. Minyoung Moon, a lecturer at Clemson University, warns that such radical rejection of men gives conservative critics ammunition to further divide gender relations. “The long-term effect I see is very negative because they chose the radical strategy, giving men and anti-feminists reason to hate them even more,” she says. This divide may, in turn, encourage political opportunists to exploit gender conflicts to secure votes, as seen in Korea’s 2022 election, where anti-feminist rhetoric helped propel conservative candidate Yoon Suk Yeol to victory.
Still, for many women, the 4B movement offers a lifeline in a world where they feel increasingly disenfranchised. With economic and political dynamics seeming to favor a more conservative stance on women’s rights, 4B’s message resonates with those seeking alternatives to the traditional path. It remains to be seen if this movement will take permanent hold in the U.S. But in both countries, it’s clear that many young women are yearning for a life that prioritizes their safety, autonomy, and equality—whether that means joining 4B or finding other ways to assert their independence.
