The 4B movement began in South Korea, and encourages women to opt out of marriage (Bihon), delivery (bichulsan), romance (bionae), and sexual relations (bisexeuBorn out of protests against South Korean culture – dating violence, revenge porn, etc. gender pay gap are widespread—the movement has grown in recent years. South Korea has Lowest birth rate of any countryAnd despite government incentives, many women still feel that the cost of motherhood becomes too high due to the country's patriarchal structure, and they refuse to become “baby-making machines.” Reporting from The New York Times,
Although it began in the late 2010s, the movement didn't really gain attention in the US until earlier this year. New York magazine published There was a lengthy feature on it in March in which writer Anna Louie Sussman described how 4B's followers cut their hair and avoided beauty products, as Barbieri demonstrated on TikTok. Sussman notes the threats and attacks faced by women and 4B protesters in particular, writing, “The shock and fear that 4B practitioners have experienced underscores their conviction that Korea is still a horrific place for women.” There is space.”
Some of the creators who spoke to WIRED were already participating in the movement before the election. Dalina, who uses they/them pronouns and asked to withhold her last name for privacy reasons, was casually looking at a man when they say, “He made a joke like, 'I Considered coming in.'” Delina says her blood ran cold at that moment. “I thought, 'Why does this sound like a threat?' It's like that, because it's a threat… He also knew it was a threat.”
Since then, Delina, who goes by the name @senoracabrona on TikTok, says she has sworn off romantic and sexual relationships with men. their Videowhich includes text telling women to watch the 4B movement, has garnered over 130,000 views on TikTok.
With the election of Trump, and with all the threats to reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights and misogyny, women online are putting their fears into action in the same way.
Barbieri says that when she posted her original 4B video it was the result of something she had been investigating for several months through her involvement in feminist circles on Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram. After her post became popular, she received many negative comments from men, but was surprised to find a lot of support, especially from women interested in the movement.