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Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

South Korea’s 4B movement has seen a surge in interest amid the 2024 US presidential election results.

On Wednesday (November 6) morning, Republican nominee Donald Trump claimed victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. During his 2024 re-election campaign, the former president celebrated the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wadea ruling that ended a nationwide right to abortion. It was also reproductive rights that propelled many women to the polls on Election Day, as Missouri became the first state to overturn its restrictive abortion ban.

However, after Trump declared victory over Democratic candidate Harris, some Americans couldn’t help but say they felt reaffirmed in their belief that the majority of the United States would prefer anyone other than a woman as president. Perhaps that’s why interest in South Korea’s 4B movement — an anti-patriarchy movement — surged in the US just hours after Trump’s victory.

“American women, looks like it’s time to be swayed by Korea’s 4B movement,” a woman he wrote on X/Twitter.

“American women, it’s time to learn from the Koreans and adopt the 4B movement,” another user it echoedwhile a third person said: “Women in South Korea do. It’s time to join them. Men will NOT be rewarded nor will they have access to our bodies.”

The 4B movement, which apparently emerged in 2019, stands for four Korean words that begin with “bi” or “no” in English: bihon means no heterosexual marriage; bichulsan, birthless; biyeonae, without meetings; and bisexual, without heterosexual intercourse. Proponents of the women-led movement refuse to date, marry, have sex or have children with men — effectively boycotting a system they believe perpetuates gender inequity.

Members of the 4B movement see marriage as an existential threat to women, and their concerns are well founded. Just like in the US, South Korean women are also subject to a gender pay gap. While American women typically earn 82 cents for every dollar men earn, women in South Korea earn 31 percent less than men—the largest gender pay gap in any democratic country. A 2018 report revealed that in the past nine years, at least 824 women have been killed and another 602 at risk of death from intimate partner violence (IPV). A study 2021 It also found that one in three Korean women experienced domestic violence, with intimate partners responsible for 46 percent of these cases.

In response, the women of the 4B movement chose to withdraw from traditional relationships entirely, stating that the practice of “bihon” was the only path to autonomy. “Practicing bihon means you eliminate the risks that come from heterosexual marriage or dating,” explained Yeowon, a native of Busan. The Cut.

It is unclear how widespread the 4B movement is given its largely anonymous and offline nature, and its origins are equally nebulous. However, scholars attribute its rise to the widening education gap between men and women in South Korea. Similar to the gender education gap in the US, where women represent 59.5% of all studentsKorean women have outpaced men in college enrollment rates since 2013. Today, nearly three-quarters of Korean women pursue higher education, compared to less than two-thirds of men.

This change fueled growing tension between men and women, with groups of disgruntled men coining the term “kimchinyeo” or “kimchee women” to stereotype college-educated women as “selfish, vain and exploitative of their partners”, a feminist scholar. Euisol Jeong explained in her research on “troll feminism.”

These cultural attitudes reflect trends in the US, where men are facing changing gender roles. Feeling the pressure of fewer blue-collar jobs and declining educational advantages, many men are drawn to vote for conservative candidates like Trump, who promise a return to traditional values ​​that, for some, prioritize men’s interests over women’s autonomy.

“Masculinity is constantly changing,” anthropologist Treena Orchard recently said The Independent in an interview about the political gender gap. “Men feel constrained and like they might feel like they have fewer options in terms of how to be a man, how to think about their place in the world, and they feel devalued.”

For many women in South Korea, the 4B movement isn’t just symbolic—it’s a social stance to regain control over their lives, bodies, and futures in response to a system they feel is becoming increasingly hostile.

In the wake of the election — which saw women’s rights such as reproductive autonomy threatened — bringing the 4B movement to the US could be a radical response. However, the growing American interest in the 4B movement underscores a shared frustration with what many see as a rollback of women’s rights and freedoms, especially as conservative values ​​gain ground among male voters.

As the movement gains momentum online, one question looms: Will American women rally around it, or perhaps create their own version, as a form of protest against Trump’s second term in the White House?