By michael vivar
In 2017, the #MeToo and "Escape the Corset" causes coalesced into the 4B movement among South Korean feminists. It was sparked when a woman was murdered and the male assailant was given what many believe to be a light sentence.
"4B" stands for "4 Nos" since the four tenets of the movement are named for these Korean words beginning with "Bi" or "No": bihon, bichulsan, bisekseu and biyeonae. Here are translations and further details of these beliefs.
The pillar of "no marriage to men" began in 2005. It challenges the heteronormative family model of marriage. "Bihon" actually means, "single." Proponents want the word to replace the common parlance, "mihon" or "not married."
In 2016, the Korean government released a map depicting low birth rate. This provoked outrage as it made many women feel like cattle. Combined with other factors like high child care prices, "Bichuslan" or "no childbirth" was adopted.
These mean, "no sex with men" and "no dating men" respectively. Some women observe this literally. Others practice the pillars as a general rejection of toxic masculinity like sexual harassment in an infamously patriarchal Korean society.
In the United States, attention to the Korean protests took hold after the re-election of Donald Trump. Resentment has festered since the "grab them by the pu**y" clip, the overturning of Roe v Wade and the prospect of Project 2025.
Trump has picked embattled figures such as Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz (since withdrawn) and Linda McMahon as potential cabinet members. Many American women are bracing for what’s next, some turning to 4B.
Denying some men what they believe is their inherent right to women’s bodies to further political ends isn't new. Lysistrata tells how women of Greece withheld sex until men ended the Peloponnesian War circa 304 BCE.
In 2017, the increasingly anti-women political climate in the US stirred singer and actress, Janelle Monáe, to propose a sex strike. Actress Julia Fox abstained from sex for over two years after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision that overturned Roe.
Effects of the 4B movement on gender equity remain to be seen. It faces challenges from conservatives and pro-supposed masculinity groups like the one fronted by incel leader, Nick Fuentes, who recently tweeted, "Your Body, My Choice."
"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." - Alice Walker, author of Warrior Marks and The Color Purple
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