The Term '4B Movement' Surged 5000% After Trump's Election [News Terminology]

'4B' Abbreviating Non-Marriage, Non-Childbirth, Non-Dating, and Non-Sex
Emerging After the 2016 Gangnam Station Murder Case
Skeptical Views on Its Persistence in the United States

Since the U.S. presidential election concluded on the 5th (local time), American women opposing President-elect Donald Trump have been sharing related content on online platforms such as TikTok and YouTube using the hashtags #4B and #4Bmovement, bringing renewed attention to the 4B movement in Korea.

On the afternoon of May 17th, a memorial event marking the 8th anniversary of the Gangnam Station female murder case was held around Exit 10 of Gangnam Station in Seoul, hosted by the Seoul Women's Association and others. [Photo by Yonhap News]

4B is an abbreviation for non-marriage, non-childbirth, non-dating, and non-sex, replacing the Chinese character for "not" (非) with the English letter "B" that sounds the same. The 4B movement is a "resistance movement" that emerged among Korean women in their 20s and 30s after the 2016 Gangnam Station murder case. As crimes against women, such as dating violence and illegal bathroom filming, continued, a sense of distrust in survival rights formed among young women, believing that "the state does not even guarantee minimal safety."

Women participating in this movement argue that even if Korean women have the will to live autonomous lives, in the male-centered domestic environment that normalizes labor exploitation within the family and state-imposed childbirth, women are positioned as a subordinate class. To break away from this class structure, some women gathered to carry out the 4B movement. They claim that the four acts?marriage, childbirth, dating, and sexual relations?are considered duties of women in a heterosexual-centered society that treats women as reproductive tools.

Therefore, they strongly reject the femininity defined by heterosexual reasoning. They also positively view lesbian relationships between unmarried female communities and movement participants who have stepped outside the heterosexual-centered society. This is because it represents a complete break from the patriarchal and male-defined sexual categories.

4B Movement Explained by NBC News
Photo by NBC News

Search volume for the term "4B movement" on Google surged by more than 5000% immediately after the U.S. presidential election. On the 6th, the day after the election, it ranked as the seventh most searched term in the U.S. On the 8th, NBC in the U.S. introduced 4B by reading the Korean words directly in English as Bihon (non-marriage), Bichulsan (non-childbirth), Biyeonae (non-dating), and Bisekseu (non-sex), then explained their meanings.

Major foreign media outlets such as The New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (WP) analyzed that the political conflict and gender division were key reasons why Korea's 4B movement gained attention in the U.S. They noted that the background differs from Korea, where economic issues like the gender wage gap led to the rise of the 4B movement. They explained that American women perceived Trump's election?who opposed abortion rights and made misogynistic remarks?as a "setback for women's rights."

There is much skepticism about whether the 4B movement will continue in the U.S. Catherine Moon, a political science professor at Wellesley College, said, "The 4B movement is a temporary means to attract attention amid the unstable situation for women caused by Trump and his administration," adding, "Unlike in Korea, it is not a full commitment to a life without men."

Han Joo-hee, a gender studies professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), also predicted that the movement is unlikely to become mainstream in the U.S., stating, "The 4B movement relies too heavily on gender binaries and overlooks the fact that many women voted for former President Trump." However, she added, "Even if not a specific movement like 4B, I hope there will be recognition that the struggle for gender equality is not just a concern unique to the U.S."