Until recently, the term “4b movement” might not have been on your radar, but it is rapidly becoming a topic of interest in the United States. This influential movement from South Korea is gaining traction far from its origins, and there’s a compelling reason why it’s resonating over 6,000 miles away.
To understand its impact on the US, we need to consider recent political developments that have shaped the country. One of the most significant events in recent years is Donald Trump’s election as President.
On November 6, Trump secured a decisive victory in the election, poised to become the 47th president after winning five of the seven critical swing states over Vice-President Kamala Harris. He also maintained leads in the remaining states of Nevada and Arizona, which were yet to be called at that time.
In his victory speech at the campaign headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump proclaimed, “This will truly be the golden age for America,” even before the official results were confirmed.
You may be familiar with the landmark Roe v Wade case. In 1973, this Supreme Court decision granted women across the United States the constitutional right to abortion. However, in one of Trump’s last actions as the 45th president, he appointed three Supreme Court justices who played a role in overturning abortion rights.
Although Vice-President Kamala Harris opposed the 2022 reversal of Roe v Wade, Trump’s position remains ambiguous. During a September debate, when questioned about signing a ban, he responded, “I’m not signing a ban. And there’s no reason to sign a ban. Because we’ve gotten what everybody wanted.”
He further explained, “Democrats, Republicans, and everybody else and every legal scholar wanted it to be brought back into the states. And the states are voting. And it may take a little time, but for 52 years this issue has torn our country apart.”
The 4b movement’s origins are not precisely dated, but it is believed to have begun around 2001. By 2022, with the election of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the movement gained momentum among women. As part of his campaign, he pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality, blaming feminism for the country’s low birth rate. The “4b” stands for four commitments: no dating men, no sex with men, no marrying men, and no childbirth.
Since Trump’s early morning speech on November 6, the term “4b movement” has gained popularity, with more people searching for it on Google. This surge in interest can be traced back to a viral tweet with over 20 million views on Twitter, urging American women to consider the 4b movement as a response to current events.
The tweet stated, “Ladies, we need to start considering the 4B movement like the women in South Korea and give America a severely sharp birth rate decline: no marriage, no childbirth, no dating men, no sex with men. We can’t let these men have the last laugh… we need to bite back.”
Should women in the US adopt this movement, it could significantly impact the country’s birth rate, already at a record low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics reported 54.5 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 last year. To put this in perspective, the rate was 62.5 births in 2013 and 123 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 in 1957.