The ‘4B movement’ is trending after Trump’s victory. What is it?

After former president Donald Trump this week the 47th president of the United States was elected, many women turned to social media to express their fears and frustrations about what a second Trump presidency would mean for women’s rights. Many women on TikTok specifically endorsed the idea of ​​joining the “4B movement” in response to his win.

A message from a TikTok user said she broke up with her Republican boyfriend after election night and planned to join the 4B group. The post received almost 2 million ‘likes’ on the app.

“I’m doing my part as an American woman by breaking up with my Republican boyfriend last night and officially joining the 4b movement this morning,” she wrote in the video’s text overlay.

Another TikTok user said it a viral video that she believes the Democratic candidate, vice president Kamala Harriswould have won the presidency if she were a man.

“You all hate women so much,” she said, writing “4b movement ladies” in the caption of the post.

Both TikTok posts are part of a wave of post-election social media posts promoting the idea of ​​a particular women’s rights movement that originated in South Korea.

The “4B” group, which advocates a non-marriage stance, began around 2018 with the goal of rejecting gender norms that have historically and systemically exploited women.

The group’s name comes from the fact that women break away from men in four categories, all of which start with the letter B in Korean: bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae and bisekseu. The list translates to: no dating, no sex, no marriage, and no child rearing.

For years, feminist movements in South Korea have worked to combat various forms of gender inequality wage differencesgender-based violence (including the country’s spy porn epidemic) And male-oriented beauty standards that put extreme pressure on women. Women in South Korea have also increasingly rejected traditional expectations of becoming mothers misogynistic views about the burden of care that often falls on women, among other factors.

The country is gone fight against a demographic crisisof record low birth rates for years.

The ‘4B movement’ emerged specifically in South Korea, amid a feminist movement in the late 2010s to early 2020s, according to Jung Hawon, a journalist and author of ‘Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What it means for women’s rights worldwide.”

Jung explained to YouTuber Elliot Sang in June that there was “a lot of momentum” for the “4B” trend as it emerged. South Korean YouTuber Jung Se-young, who promoted the ‘4B movement’, told Reuters in 2020 that she vowed to remain single because “marriage is the root cause of patriarchy in South Korea.”

During Jung’s YouTube interview with Sang, she said that the 4B movement and its followers represent an “extreme end of a whole spectrum of women who remain single and childless in South Korea.”

But despite its initial popularity, Jung also said she believes in it more recent anti-feminist waves in South Korea has ‘harassed’ some women in the country. “Many of them have fallen silent, including the followers of the 4B movement. It really is a disheartening development.”

Interest in the 4B movement has increased since Trump defeated Harris in Tuesday’s election.

Many women express their concerns about this on social media the future of reproductive rights and condemning the men who voted against policies aimed at protecting women and their bodily autonomy.

They also worry about their safety in a second Trump administration. On Wednesday, far-right social media users on X shared their unfiltered, misogynistic celebrations following the former president’s re-election: “Your body, my choice. Forever,” an extreme right-wing political expert on the platform – a phrase that has since spread online. (Other grotesque and threatening tweets insinuating that men can now control women was also followed.)

As a result, some are turning to the ideals of the 4B movement in response.

“I like the #4BMovement’s new idea of ​​not engaging or talking to men whenever we can,” said one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “That sounds so peaceful. We can just ignore it and block it. Let their loneliness epidemic spread.”

The movement also encourages women to more intentionally uplift other women.

“Remember that the 4B movement, and the separatist movement in general, is not just about avoiding men – it is also about supporting and investing in women,” wrote another. “Find relationships with women, women-owned businesses, women-created media, etc.; surround yourself with women and our culture.”

But others online have said that some of the recent discourse surrounding the 4B movement in the US fails to recognize the ways different demographics of women and men voted in the elections.

Most of the conversation takes place under the general statement that most men voted against women’s interests – and that women generally voted for those interests. But the voting demographics tell a sharper story. National exit polls show Harris received support from about 91% of Black women voters and about 60% of Latina voters. She received approximately 77% of the votes from black men, according to Reuters.

Trump, however won an estimated 56% of the white vote: 60% of white men and 53% of white women.

“By vote, black people are the most united group in the country,” one X user wrote, adding, “Our men are not the ones who voted against us and our humanity, it was theirs.”

Other people on X pointed out that simply swearing off men after Trump’s victory doesn’t solve the problems white female voting bloc, which is often the case voted for Republican candidates.

“4B movement is good and important and I’m glad people are talking about it, but I need white women to keep the energy up in unpacking white supremacy in themselves and their peers. Statistically, a man of color is a better ally for me than a white woman. said one user.

Regardless, people continue to express their frustrations over the outcome of the 2024 elections, and many are drawing inspiration from the women’s movements in South Korea. As of Friday, more than 19,000 videos had been tagged about the 4B movement on TikTok, as well as posts on Instagram and X.