From South Korea to the U.S., the 4B movement is a bold rejection of male-dominated society. Here’s why it’s making headlines.

The 4B movement is challenging traditional gender roles and rejecting patriarchy—here’s why more women are embracing it post-2024 US election.

4B Movement Meaning: How Women Are Reclaiming Power  

The Women Swearing off Men: Inside the 4B Movement 

In the wake of Donald Trump's re-election in the U.S. last November, online use of the phrases “your body, my choice” and “get back into the kitchen” 

. This perhaps wasn’t all that surprising, given that Trump himself said on the campaign trail he would 

 “whether they like it or not,” while JD Vance derided “childless cat ladies” and called Kamala Harris “trash.” 

At the same time, American interest in the South Korean feminist 4B movement 

, with Google searches surging on November 6, 2024—the day Trump’s victory was announced. 

But what is the 4B movement, and how can it offer insight for women in the U.S. as they navigate the growing threats to their rights, safety, and equality?

The 4B movement originated in South Korea as a response to the country’s deeply patriarchal society, encouraging women to opt out of romantic and sexual relationships with men. 

The name "4B" is derived from four Korean words that start with bi, meaning “no.”

Like other separatist feminist movements, the 4B movement rejects heterosexual relationships as a form of resistance against patriarchal structures and societal pressures that push women into traditional roles.

The 4B movement emerged in response to escalating gender-based violence and systemic misogyny in South Korea.

One of the most pivotal moments occurred in May 2016, when a man brutally murdered a young woman in a public restroom in Seoul. When questioned by police, 

, “I did it because women have always ignored me.” Yet, despite this clear admission, the police refused to classify the attack as a hate crime against women.

In the wake of the murder, mourners and activists attended the memorial site to leave notes for the victim. Some male protestors were also in attendance. They wore masks and held up placards reading “Not all men are potential murderers” and “The crime was not misogynist.” 

 and image-based sexual abuse were rampant; 

 was illegal; sexual harassment was pervasive in 

 and workplaces; and for many women, marriage, and pregnancy meant the end of their careers—reinforcing a culture in which women were expected to prioritize family over personal or professional ambitions.

Then, in December 2016, the South Korean government launched an online

 to address the country's falling birth rate. The map publicly displayed the number of women of reproductive age (15 to 49, according to the map) in each municipality, reducing women's bodies to statistics for population growth. 

Outraged, South Korean feminists called for a boycott of reproductive labor, arguing that the simplest way to avoid being reduced to a birth-giver was to avoid men altogether. 

From these online discussions, the 4B movement emerged. 

It began as a slogan before evolving into a movement. However, given its fluid nature and how it has evolved online and offline, its true scale and influence remain difficult to measure.

The Importance of the 4B Movement in South Korea 

, 41.5% of South Korean women reported experiencing intimate partner violence—far above the global average of 30% 

South Korea remains an exceptionally difficult place to be a woman: 

The country has the widest gender pay gap in the OECD, with 

than men. That’s almost three times the average of comparable nations.

Beyond economic inequality, gender-based violence in South Korea is pervasive:

, 41.5% of South Korean women reported experiencing intimate partner violence—far above the global average of 30%. 

Identifying as a feminist in South Korea is not just stigmatized, it can be outright dangerous: 

The anti-feminist sentiment is particularly strong among young men. In a

, nearly 70% of Korean men in their twenties stated that discrimination against men was a “serious” issue, and a

 found that over 66% of young men would refuse to accept feminists as neighbors, colleagues, or friends. 

This growing backlash has been reinforced by South Korea’s conservative political landscape. President Yoon Suk-yeol has actively courted anti-feminist support, 

 “abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality” in a move that has resonated with his base.

In such a hostile climate, the 4B movement has emerged as a survival strategy, offering women an escape from patriarchal expectations in an environment where gender equality feels increasingly out of reach. It is no surprise, then, that interest in 4B has now surged in the U.S., in the wake of Trump’s re-election, as the threat to women’s rights intensifies. 

In 2016, 41.5% of South Korean women reported experiencing intimate partner violence—far above the global average of 30%. 

“Your Body, My Choice”: The 4B Movement in the U.S. 

The rise of the 4B movement in the U.S. stems from many of the same frustrations that fueled the movement in South Korea but within a uniquely American context. 

The rollback of abortion rights, the re-election of a president accused of multiple counts of sexual assault, and increasingly hostile conservative rhetoric around gender have left many women fearful for their safety and rights.

In response to Trump’s re-election, mainstream media outlets began highlighting the 4B movement as a form of feminist resistance. Articles with titles like “

MAGA Has a Penis Obsession. 4B Feminism Is a Logical Response

After the Election, a Call for Women to Swear Off Men

 amplified awareness and spread the 4B movement’s core ideas.

“If we can’t control what they do in terms of legislation and abortion rights, we have to do something for ourselves,” one woman told 

. “Starting with cutting out male influence in our lives, taking safety precautions, visiting OB-GYNs, and making sure we are best prepared for when January comes—and for the years after that.”

While the 4B movement may offer a radical way to reclaim agency in a hostile political climate, critics caution that this approach oversimplifies complex social structures and ignores the movement’s contradictions and limitations. 

“If we can’t control what they do in terms of legislation and abortion rights, we have to do something for ourselves,” 

From concerns about gender essentialism and trans exclusion to debates over its effectiveness in dismantling systemic oppression, the 4B movement has gained traction but it has also faced criticism on multiple fronts.

For many, 4B’s call for divestment from men—without acknowledging trans men, queer men, genderqueer, or non-binary people—mirrors bio-essentialist rhetoric often promoted by transphobic figures online.

By defining womanhood primarily through reproductive capacity, the 4B movement reinforces rigid biological determinism and fosters anti-trans and anti-gay sentiments. Many online 4B communities require ID verification to confirm a member’s assigned sex at birth, actively excluding trans women and nonbinary individuals. 

This gatekeeping echoes historical separatist feminist movements that rejected intersectionality, further alienating marginalized groups.

Minji, a 4B movement adherent in South Korea, told 

 that one of the 4B communities she joined asked her to submit a video of her Adam’s apple, presumably to ensure she wasn’t assigned male at birth.

Additionally, various 4B message boards in South Korea have displayed queerphobic, transphobic, and homophobic rhetoric, raising concerns that the movement’s opposition to patriarchal oppression is entangled with other forms of exclusionary ideology.

The 4B movement’s framing of sex as a resource women "withhold" from men reinforces the idea that women’s power lies solely in their sexuality. It also suggests that in heterosexual relationships, sex is a resource women give up for men rather than something they might genuinely desire themselves.

The movement also largely excludes sex workers, as engaging with men is viewed as a form of collaboration with the patriarchy or an act that upholds an oppressive system—whereas 

sex work can actually be used to fight the patriarchy

. This former perspective fails to recognize 

the agency, autonomy, and resistance that sex work can represent for many women.

By positioning men as inherently exploitative and rejecting sex with them entirely, 4B inadvertently reinforces the stereotype that sex work is inherently degrading or harmful to women. This contributes to a broader whorephobic narrative, further stigmatizing sex workers and limiting their inclusion in feminist discourse.

A central critique of the 4B movement is its rejection of men as potential allies. 

While the movement positions itself as a protest against male entitlement and gendered oppression, it lacks a clear vision for systemic change. If the goal is feminist liberation, what demands must be met for that future to be possible?

At its most extreme, the 4B movement reflects a nihilistic worldview—one that assumes men are an irredeemable group, rather than individuals shaped by and capable of resisting patriarchal systems. But oppression is not just a matter of individual behavior; it is upheld by a broader network of political, economic, and cultural forces. A more inclusive feminist vision would seek to dismantle these structures rather than advocating total separation.

At its most extreme, the 4B movement reflects a nihilistic worldview—one that assumes men are an irredeemable group, rather than individuals shaped by and capable of resisting patriarchal systems.

Moreover, 4B's impact is inherently limited in a society where many people—both men and women—actively uphold conservative and patriarchal values. 

In the U.S., the movement’s rejection of men does nothing to challenge the fact that 

Separatist Feminism: Solution or Setback?

Separatist feminism is not a new concept; it has historical roots in second wave feminism during the 1960s and 1970s, when 

 advocated for rejecting men as a necessary step towards liberation. Separatists argued that male-dominated society couldn’t be reformed from within and that women needed autonomous spaces to develop their own politics and communities. 

Today, elements of separatism are widely practiced in spaces such as women’s refuges, women-only gyms, and lesbian bars. Proponents argue that these spaces offer safety, solidarity, and refuge from systemic oppression in a world where women continue to face gender-based violence, discrimination, and erasure. But separatism is not without its controversies and limitations. 

Critics argue that exclusion is not always empowerment and that separatist feminism may replicate the same boundaries and hierarchies it seeks to dismantle. Many feminist thinkers, particularly those advocating for intersectionality, have highlighted that 

separatism often fails to consider the additional inequalities

In a 1982 discussion on Black feminism and lesbian activism, 

 concerns that “separatism impedes the building of alliances with men of color," explaining that the way separatism has been practiced has led to "an isolated, single-issued understanding and practice of politics, which ignores the range of oppressions that women experience."

This critique remains relevant today, particularly in discussions about 

, as some radical feminist separatists advocate for the 

 from women-only spaces, a position that has rightfully sparked intense debate within feminist circles. 

Feminist movements must continue to assess their inclusivity and ensure they reflect diverse identities and experiences. Rather than viewing separatism as either a complete solution or an outright setback, when can it serve as a necessary tool for empowerment, and when does it limit the potential for collective action? Finding this balance is key to shaping a feminist agenda that is both inclusive and effective.

The 4B Movement Alternative: Collective Feminism 

, for feminism to be a transformative force, it must move beyond rejection and toward coalitional politics. Rather than retreating from society’s structures, Butler calls for feminists to engage in collective struggles that transcend gender divisions. 

“The only way out of this bind,” they write in their book Who’s Afraid of Gender?, “is to ally the struggle for gender freedoms and rights with the critique of capitalism, to formulate the freedoms for which we struggle as collective ones, and to let gender become part of a broader struggle for a social and economic world that eliminates precarity and provides health care, shelter, and food across all regions.”

The 4B movement often frames liberation as personal choices such as rejecting marriage, dating men, or having children. But feminism cannot achieve systemic change through withdrawal alone; it must actively resist and reshape oppressive structures. 

Rather than assuming men are beyond redemption, a stronger feminist strategy could dismantle the ideological systems that sustain patriarchy—ensuring liberation is not built on exclusion, but on collective resistance and structural change.

While the 4B movement may offer a much needed (albeit temporary) refuge for women in the U.S., it does not address the deeper forces sustaining gendered oppression. The fact that many women supported Trump’s re-election underscores that oppression is not solely enforced by men but upheld by entrenched social, economic, and political systems.

A true feminist future must be built through collective action—protecting reproductive rights, advocating for queer and trans liberation, and dismantling economic structures that exploit marginalized people. 

, "In order to break out of the gendered capitalist political economy, feminism has to move collectively—against the monogamous, monomaternal norm, and against all other privately organized scarcity of lifemaking resources."

Feminism’s power lies not in isolation but in transformation. The path to liberation is not withdrawal but radical, collective change. 