'No man will touch me until I get my rights back': Why is the 4B movement going viral after Trump's victory? | US elections 2024

McKenna, who is 24 and lives in a rural, conservative state, recently returned to dating apps after a year of self-discovery. She had two first dates scheduled for this weekend, but after Donald Trump won the election, she canceled both.

“It's heartbreaking to know that in this country you only count if you're a straight white man,” she said. “It’s just devastating that we’re at this point. That’s why I won’t let another man touch me until I get my rights back.”

McKenna, who did not want her last name published for privacy reasons, first heard about 4B several months ago through a TikTok video referencing the South Korean social movement. The basic idea: Women swear by heterosexual marriage, dating, sex and childbirth in protest against institutionalized misogyny and abuse. (It's called 4B in honor of these four specific no-nos.) The movement, which takes place primarily online, began around 2018 with protests against revenge porn and evolved into South Korea's #MeToo-like feminist wave.

After Trump's victory, McKenna is once again busy with 4B – and she's not the only one.

Trump's embrace of manosphere figures like Joe Rogan, the Nelk Boys and Adin Ross means he has strong support among their evangelists – mostly young men. But for young women, the former president's long history of misogyny means a vote for Trump is a vote against feminism, especially given that reproductive rights are a key issue in 2024. Ahead of the US election, experts predicted a historic gender gap. Early election polls support this prediction: women aged 18 to 29 overwhelmingly went left, while Trump gained ground on his male counterparts compared to 2020.

Calling the Race, TikToks viewed hundreds of thousands of times offered a way for women to take action against the jugular: 4B, specifically cutting off contact with men.

“Girls, it’s time to boycott all men! You have lost your rights, and they have lost the right to strike raw! The 4b movement starts now!” wrote a YouTuber on TiKTok in a video that has been viewed 3.4 million times.

In another video, a woman trains on a stair climber. “I'm building my dream body that no man will touch for another four years,” the caption reads. The top comment on her post: “In the club we are all celibate.”

On Wednesday, Google searches for “4B” increased 450%, with the most interest coming from Washington DC, Colorado, Vermont and Minnesota.

In South Korea, 4B began as an offshoot of nationwide protests against the spy camera epidemic, in which perpetrators filmed targets – most of them women – having sex or urinating in public toilets without their knowledge or consent.

“These videos were sold and shared by men on Discord, and women did not know how many men had participated and whether any of the men in their lives had participated,” said Min Joo Lee, an assistant professor of Asian studies at Occidental College. “There was a general feeling of, 'Who can I trust?' And before I regain my trust in men, I must stop having contact with them.'”

The demonstrations developed into actions against the patriarchy on a large scale; Some activists cut their hair or refused to wear makeup because they rejected beauty standards and the male gaze.

South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world for several reasons, including the high cost of living, prioritizing work over personal life and a decline in marriages. Some companies and government agencies have offered incentives for parents: One company provides a free car to employees with three or more children, and another construction company spent $5 million on $75,000 in cash bonuses for workers with babies.

In Busan, the country's second-largest city, a government-sponsored pilot program held blind dating events in which singles received $600 for each match they made. Those who married or bought homes with their partners received higher compensation, pocketing up to $85,000.

As with #MeToo in the US, men have called 4B excessive and discriminatory. South Korea's conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol campaigned to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which protects against gender-based violence and discrimination, saying feminists were responsible for the country's economic problems.

Haein Shim, a South Korean activist and current researcher at Stanford University's Clayman Institute for Gender Research, said in an email that women who took part in 4B protests faced cyberbullying, harassment, stalking and threats of violence. “Many of us wore masks, sunglasses and hats to cover our faces, and it was common to dress differently before and after a protest to avoid stalking.”

There were also more nuanced reviews. “Some debated whether it was a sustainable way to participate in feminism because it represented a complete separation from men, and some people believe that for society to move forward there needs to be productive conversations between people with different worldviews,” Lee said. Feminists expressed concerns about whether 4B “disregarded the wishes of heterosexual women in order to punish men who may or may not have engaged in misogyny.”

Shim, the activist, says 4B goes beyond just boycotting men and encourages women to find solidarity with one another. “It's a new lifestyle focused on building safe communities, both online and in person, and valuing our existence in this crazy world,” she said. “We don’t want to simply be labeled as a man’s wife or girlfriend, but rather gain the independence to be free from societal expectations that often limit women’s potential to be fully recognized as human beings.”

Second-wave feminist groups of the 1960s and '70s such as Cell 16, which advocated celibacy and male separation, and political lesbians who rejected heterosexuality, were historically considered extreme—or just trendy. 4B, a more contemporary movement that lives primarily online, appears to be more accessible to Gen Z women. On TikTok, 4B posts play a communal and therapeutic role, a way to take back control at a time when fundamental rights are at stake.

South Korea's fertility struggles caught the attention of staunch Trump ally Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO has at least 11 living children (one son died in infancy in 2002). He describes pronatalism, the enthusiastic promotion of reproduction, as a way to save humanity from “population collapse.” When Taylor Swift supported Kamala Harris this summer, he seemingly creepily and unsolicited offered to impregnate her. He has cited South Korea's declining birth rate as a case study for Americans who aren't concerned about having children.

Consider Musk an archetypal 4B opponent. He's far from the only one. Far-right figures like Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who praised Hitler and once described his “ideal woman” when he was 16, celebrated on for saving this country from stupid bitches who wanted to destroy the world to maintain abortion,” and “Your body, my choice. Forever.” This type of violent rhetoric spreading among Trump's far-right supporters , won't exactly convince the majority of young American women that they should date right now.

At the moment, McKenna doesn't know exactly what 4B will look like for her after the election. She wants to research more about the community. She doesn't swear off sex forever or take a vow of celibacy. “Now when I go out with my friends and meet people, I no longer meet to find a date, but to get change,” she said. “When men hit on me, I just defend myself.”