After months of campaigning, America has elected its 47th president and with it, many women have turned to the feminist movement, 4B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first heard of the 4B movement, I felt hopeless and fed up with dating. Not that I went on many dates to begin with, but the ones I had were uneventful and left a bitter taste in my mouth. Too many men I spoke to started messages with inappropriate sexual comments and when I didn\u2019t reciprocate or I called them out, they turned it around that I should\u2019ve been grateful for someone even considering me \u201cattractive enough\u201d. Thankfully, the dates were tamer, but odd comments about having \u201ctoo many guy friends\u201d or \u201cwomen nowadays want to be men\u201d turned me right off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was on TikTok that I first saw a post about the 4B movement and after my experiences, it was tempting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 4B movement emerged as a feminist response to the inequality and sexism many women face in South Korean society. From the threat of male violence to the socioeconomic inequalities between the sexes, and the conservative family dynamic that sees the brunt of childcare resting on the mother, the 4B movement developed to offer autonomy to women feeling disheartened in their society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bs themselves stand for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Bihon – no heterosexual marriages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Bichulsan – no childbirth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Biyeonae – no dating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Bisekseu – no heterosexual sexual relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Trump back in office, many American women have taken to social media to share their worries and fears of what that means for the future of their rights, and why they\u2019re turning to this movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t fault them. After the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, 14 states enacted a near-total ban on abortion and medical professionals face civil and\/or criminal penalties for providing care unless in life-or-death situations. Some states, like Texas, for example, removed access to abortion even if the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault or incest. I\u2019ve seen women say that 4B is the only alternative they feel they have because it\u2019s too risky to get pregnant or be in a position that might lead to pregnancy. It boiled down to one question: how can they risk pregnancy if they may not get the care they need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It goes even further than that. With the likes of Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate and white supremacist Nick Fuentes influencing a lot of young men, attitudes towards women seem to be worse than I\u2019ve ever seen in my life. After the election, Nick Fuentes triumphantly declared on X, \u201cYour body, my choice. Forever.\u201d He then continued during an episode of his podcast where he said, \u201cHey b*tch, we control your bodies! Guess what? Guys win again. Okay? Men win again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The comments left on TikTok videos from women made my stomach turn. Men repeating the phrase, mocking those upset by what was being said and all proclaiming that it was a big joke to make the \u201cfeminazis\u201d angry. It\u2019s almost as if joking about something normalises it. When there are even more impressionable young people online, posts like this, joking or not, set dangerous precedents and infect young minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump himself has been accused of sexual misconduct and sexual assault many times over the years, including from his ex-wife. In 2023, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing advice columnist, E. Jean Carroll, in 1996. My biggest worry is the precedent this sets. What sort of message are we setting where rapists can be president? Rape cases still struggle reaching courts, conviction rates are still low, and this isn\u2019t any different in the UK. If America, a global superpower, elects a rapist to office, what does that tell the rest of the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what are people so worried about with this movement? Apart from outright mockery, they\u2019re concerned with the ever-declining birth rate. Yet again, seeing women only as incubators and not as humans. Others have mentioned how women don\u2019t always have a choice in pregnancy, such as sexual assault. Some women are being criticised for shaving their heads and being accused of calling women \u201cugly\u201d if they don\u2019t have hair. I don\u2019t see it that way, though; just like burning bras was a way to reclaim autonomy and fight beauty standards in the 60s, so is shaving our heads. It\u2019s a clear way to say, \u201cMy body, my choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the UK doesn\u2019t face similar threats to women\u2019s rights, violence against women and girls in England and Wales has been deemed a \u201cnational emergency\u201d by the National Police Chiefs\u2019 Council. Online support from women all over the world, including the UK, shows just how impactful and important movements like 4B can be. When you look at the state of dating, with the commodification of \u201clove\u201d through dating apps selling promises of connections through algorithms, to continued misogyny and abuse in relationships, and to very real threats to women\u2019s rights across the world, it\u2019s no wonder women are turning to movements that take them out of the dating pool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Words by Megan Ingram-Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After months of campaigning, America has elected its 47th president and with it, many women have turned to the feminist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":650,"featured_media":35119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5521],"tags":[7469,3,3054,1880,567,7447,96,1239,291],"class_list":["post-35116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-love","tag-4b","tag-cardiff","tag-cardiff-student-media","tag-dating","tag-love","tag-movements","tag-quench","tag-sex","tag-women"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n