Morgan Hanna
In the wake of the 2024 United States presidential election, many took to the internet to see the nation’s wide variety of reactions. No matter one’s political views, we can all agree that this election was one of the most anticipated and influential of our generation, with one reason being the large gender gap in gen Z voters (according to NBC News, there is a 17% difference between the number of female voters for Harris and the number of male voters). Because many Democrats worry about the state of reproductive healthcare under the next Trump Administration, women on social media are considering a not-so-new idea - the 4B Movement.
The 4B Movement originated in South Korea back in the mid 2010s. It is a more extreme feminist movement that is also referred to as the “Four Nos”, relating to the four Korean words “bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae and bisekseu”, which roughly translate to “no marriage, no giving birth, no dating, and no sex”. The movement was popularized in South Korea as a way to retaliate against the rampant acts of sexual harassment and revenge porn that the country’s women had to face in the hands of men. While the movement may have died down in South Korea, it’s just getting started here in the United States.
After president-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 election on November 5, a plethora of American women chose to join the movement, abstaining from dating, marriage, heterosexual sex, and child-rearing. These choices are in reaction to the increase of misogynistic comments left by men on women’s social media content leading up to and in the aftermath of Trump’s victory. It is no surprise that Trump’s campaign was able to better entice young male voters than Harris’, due to Trump focusing more energy on how young male voters see themselves being left behind by the Democratic party and the party’s aspirations. Trump’s messaging also amuses the fear that many young men have when it comes to the weakening of the patriarchy and what that means for men going forward. But with his victory, women across the nation are now fearing for their reproductive and civil rights.
With the 4B movement growing popular in the States, more and more progressive women are working to decentralize men from their lives, whether that be by choosing to stay celibate for the rest of Trump’s presidency, boycotting male-owned businesses, or cutting ties with conservative male relatives. There are many ways women have chosen to support 4B, but either way, the nation will have to wait and see if this movement sticks around and brings lasting change to American lives.
I think the 4B movement, whether it’s here to stay or dies out quickly, shows how tired many American women are with the Trump campaign. As a more liberal student here at WHS, I’m growing tired as well. The 4B movement comes at a painful yet hopeful time for many American women, and I believe that Trump’s second term will inspire even more women to resist and fight back against his administration’s potential policies. In all honesty, I have no issue with women choosing to follow the 4B movement. As a non-binary high-schooler who is also bisexual, this movement does not hold the same emphasis for me as it would with heterosexual, cisgender women, but I am still glad women are choosing to partake in this. I think that throughout our nation’s history, men have continued to find ways to bring women down, no matter the motive. If abstaining from any form of intimacy with men is how women are finally going to be listened to, then so be it.