Shortly after Donald Trump was announced as the 47th President of the United States on 6 November 2024, a tweet arguing that American women should embrace the Korean 4B movement went viral on X (formerly Twitter). The now-deleted tweet received nearly 17 million views and 64,000 reposts within 24 hours, which shows that as more women in the United States witness increasing threats to their rights, the 4B lifestyle appears ever more relevant to them. But what is the 4B Movement and what does it aim to achieve?
Understanding the 4B Movement
The 4B movement is a lifestyle choice for women, rejecting four traditional expectations: marriage, childbirth, dating, and sex with men. The 4B ideology first emerged in South Korea around 2015, following the rise of ‘Megalia’, a radical feminist online community. Within this space, women began advocating for non-marriage and non-childbirth as a means of rejecting patriarchal control. By 2017, the movement evolved into 4B, incorporating the refusal to date or engage in sexual relationships with men.
The 4B movement has recently evolved into 6B, incorporating two additional principles: not consuming misogynistic products and not engaging with men who do not deserve a response. Sometimes, this also includes actively supporting women-owned businesses and uplifting female creators and entrepreneurs. The movement has also gained popularity among Gen Z girls on TikTok, in a trend called ‘Boy Sober’, which promotes female independence by abstaining from romantic and sexual relationships with men.
However, at its core, 4B is about autonomy. It stems from the realisation, among young feminists, that relationships with men influence women's ability to truly be themselves. This led to a radical question: what would a world without men look like?
Recognising and Challenging Patriarchal Power Structures
That this movement was born in a country as deeply patriarchal as South Korea, is significant. Despite being a developed nation, South Korea maintains an alarmingly low level of gender sensitivity. The belief that men should be the primary breadwinners remains widespread, fostering a societal atmosphere where a son's employment is considered more important than a daughter's. As a result, South Korea has held the unfortunate title of having the largest gender pay gap among OECD countries for nearly 30 years. While progress has been made in education and healthcare, gender equality in decision-making roles and political or social representation still has a long way to go.
For decades, this gender disparity has kept women subdued, forcing them into lives of dependency on men. However, women are now beginning to recognise the injustice of this system. The 4B movement emerged as a declaration of resistance—an assertion that women will no longer allow their resources to be taken from them. But beyond activism, it is also a practical survival strategy. The more misogynistic a society, the more dangerous it becomes for women. Gender-based violence is most frequently committed by male intimate partners. Therefore, for many, adopting 4B is a way to protect themselves from these risks.
In deeply sexist cultures, women are often conditioned to believe that they are incomplete without men. Their worth is tied to fulfilling instrumentalised gender roles— as wives, mothers, and caretakers. Boycotting men is therefore an act of defiance, a way of seeing through this structure and breaking free from it. Just as workers strike for better wages and fair treatment, women are declaring that they will no longer conform to the roles expected of them in a gender-unequal society. This is not merely a symbolic rebellion. It is a radical and direct challenge to the male power structures that uphold patriarchy.
Gaining Momentum Despite Anti-feminist Backlash
Over the past decade, South Korean women who embraced the 4B movement have trained themselves to live as individuals, rather than as girlfriends, wives, or mothers. Though not large in number, they gathered in online communities and on social media platforms to engage in deep discussions about reclaiming female autonomy. Whereas romantic relationship concerns once dominated discussion boards, topics related to financial independence and self-development have become noticeably more prominent. As fewer women sought validation through relationships with men, dating and marriage rates saw a significant decline.
The 4B movement has also been linked to South Korea’s record-low fertility rate, which plummeted to 0.72 in 2023— the lowest among OECD countries. With women refusing to give birth, the South Korean government has declared a population crisis, fearing that the country is on the brink of demographic collapse. In this sense, the strike is proving successful.
Yet, as young feminist activism gains momentum, South Korean society has also embraced anti-feminist rhetoric. Critics argue that radical feminists promote man-hating, inciting gender conflict and misleading ‘innocent’ women. The backlash has been intense. A female YouTuber in South Korea was subjected to a wave of online abuse, simply for posting a video about the joys of living alone as a woman. The comments section was flooded with sarcastic and demeaning messages, insisting that no woman could ever be happy without a man.
Despite its controversial nature, the 4B movement is gaining global traction and many women see it as a bold, provocative, and highly effective method of challenging patriarchy. Nana, a Chinese feminist based in London, said: ‘It is dangerous to openly challenge the government. I was impressed that Korean women found a way to do it on a personal level, in their everyday lives. I think it is an effective way for individuals to challenge the state's instrumentalisation of women as reproductive machines.'
It’s More About Supporting Women than Avoiding Men
It is crucial to understand that 4B is not about rejecting men for the sake of it. From a female perspective, it is about rebalancing power in a world where power is skewed against women.
Women in patriarchal societies face constant pressure to seek male validation. Just as recovering alcoholics face the constant risk of relapse, women who have been socially conditioned to seek male approval are always at risk of returning to the ‘familiar misery’ that patriarchy promises as sweet comfort.
The future of the 4B movement, which challenges existing social structures, remains uncertain, especially as the global backlash against feminism intensifies. Yet, perhaps for this very reason, more women than ever are stepping forward. They have recognised that women's transformation inevitably drives change in men and society. As more embrace the movement, society can no longer ignore toxic masculinity, even for its own survival. This is how women establish social norms that uphold their autonomy.
The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, the International Inequalities Institute, or the London School of Economics and Political Science.
JiHye Jeong
Journalist & Gender Equality Specialist
JiHye Jeong is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and a journalist, writer, and gender equality specialist with nine years of experience in the media industry. As a journalist, she has focused on in-depth interviews, gender equality journalism, and columns on the realities of inequality.