What is South Korea’s 4B movement?

The South Korean "4B" movement has gained attention in the United States following President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 election.

Emerging around 2018, the "4B" movement is a voluntary female celibacy movement, encouraging women to refuse heterosexual marriage, childbirth, dating or sex with men. The term "4B" comes from bihon (no marriage), bichulsan (no childbirth), biyeonae (no dating) and bisekseu (no sex), with "bi," or "B," meaning "no." Essentially, 4B advocates for women to disengage from relationships with men entirely.

Following Donald Trump's presidential election victory last week, reports emerged that a growing number of American women are looking to the 4B movement.

Though Trump, who faced a civil trial for sexual abuse last year, has said he would veto a federal abortion ban, he has supported the right of states to choose to ban or limit abortion access after the overturning of Roe v Wade. He has also taken credit for nominating the judges who made the ruling possible.

His election, and the precarious fate of abortion rights in America, spurred some American women to consider the 4B movement, according to multiple reports. Posts on social media platforms like X reflect this mindset, with comments such as, "American women, looks like it’s time to get influenced by Korea’s 4B movement," and, "It’s time we join the movement. Men will NOT be rewarded, nor have access to our bodies."

According to Google trends, searches for "4B" reached an all-time high on the Wednesday following the American election. Interest in the movement surged by 450 percent in the US, with significant activity in states like Washington, DC, Colorado, Vermont and Minnesota. Meanwhile, on TikTok, videos about the movement have amassed millions of views as numerous young American women express their intention to embrace their own version of the 4B trend.

Regarding this phenomenon, Shin Kyung-ah, a sociology professor at Hallym University and president of the Korean Association of Women's Studies, remarked, "It is very positive and fascinating to see American women learning from the 4B movement and the combative struggles of Korean women."

The 4B movement gained traction in Korea due to widespread dissatisfaction with a deeply rooted patriarchal culture seen as beyond repair. Its origins are linked to the sustained challenges faced by women during rapid economic modernization, which has underscored enduring gender inequality, particularly among younger women, according to observers.

Despite surpassing men in university entrance rates since 2005, women remain at a disadvantage in employment and wages. In 2020, women's university entrance rate was 81.4 percent compared to 76.4 percent for men, according to data from the Ministry of Education. However, by 2023, only 68 percent of women in their 30s were employed compared to 88.9 percent of men in their 30s, according to statistics from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Statistics Korea.

South Korea also has the world's worst gender wage gap. According to the OECD, In 2022, women earned 31.2 percent less on average than men, a disparity more than double the OECD average. As a result, traditional life paths such as marriage and childbearing appear less viable to many women. South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world, down to 0.78 in 2023.

Additionally, the 4B movement emerged as part of a broader response to gender violence, notably ignited by the 2016 murder of a woman near Gangnam Station in Seoul. This tragic event brought national attention to issues like femicide and digital sex crimes. The incident, where the perpetrator confessed to killing out of generalized resentment toward women, catalyzed discussions on misogyny in the country.

Into this complex societal fabric, the 4B movement and feminism have become highly polarizing issues. The election of President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022 which frequently described him as South Korea's version of Trump, has deepened these divides. He has proposed abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, accusing it of treating men as "potential sex criminals." Yoon has controversially blamed the country’s low birth rate on feminism, arguing that it disrupts healthy relationships between men and women. Moreover, he claims that systemic "structural discrimination based on gender" does not exist in South Korea, despite evidence showing Korean women rank poorly in various international economic and social indicators. These positions and statements have sparked widespread condemnation from women's groups and further polarized the national discourse on gender equality.

The Escape the Corset movement also gained momentum, urging women to defy rigid beauty standards by rejecting makeup and cosmetic surgery. Building on this, the 4B movement challenges not only these standards but also the institutions that reinforce patriarchal systems.