The 4B movement on TikTok is about women turning away from men

If you've taken a break from dating, climbed out of the marriage pool, or dreamed about what it would be like to cut men out of your life, then it's possible you've seen TikToks about the 4B movement on your FYP. The hashtag contains thousands of videos and, given the November 5 election results, even more are popping up.

ICYMI, 4B began as a feminist movement in South Korea around 2018 and has since grown in popularity on social media platforms around the world. His name represents the “four nos” that his supporters represent: They say no to men, marriage, children and sex.

In Korean, these words all start with the prefix “bi,” which means “no” in English: biyeonae (not dating men), bihon (not marrying men), biculsan (not having children with men), and bisekseu (no). . sex with men).

Gender has been a particularly contentious issue in the United States recently, as Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned to become the first woman to hold this country's highest office. In this week's election, 54% of men voted for President-elect Donald Trump, who has described Harris in misogynistic language (among other things), who has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 26 women and who has chosen three Supreme Court justices who voted to overthrow Roe v. Wade. On October 30, he said: “Whether women like it or not, I will protect them.”

Similar to the #MeToo movement in 2017, 4B aims to highlight women's experiences, start a conversation about what's wrong with patriarchy, and shed light on this type of rhetoric and equality within heterosexual relationships. According to the movement's proponents, heterosexual dating often unfairly benefits men, and that's why some women choose to be alone.

The 4B Movement on TikTok

Although the movement has been around for years, it is currently going viral following Trump's re-election. On November 6, creator @rabbitsandtea shared that she was joining the 4B movement to stand up for her rights, while @annashlap said her sadness over the election was quickly turning to anger — and her video already has over 550,000 likes . “Is the 4B movement next?” she asked.

In a similar TikTok that already has over 65,000 likes, @carlabezanson said she likes her coffee the way she likes her men – and throws it down the drain in the process. In their comments, one person said, “Men and coffee both trigger my IBS,” while another wrote, “I'm feeling this more now than ever.” Another commenter said, “As a man, I respect that and your honesty.”

Understanding the 4B Movement

While this may sound extreme to some, 4B makes sense to others, considering what women's lives with men — as their sexual partners, romantic partners and co-parents — often look like, said Nicole Dular, an assistant professor of philosophy at Notre Dame from Maryland University, in a September blog post about the movement. “Fortunately, there are a wealth of studies on exactly these interactions; Unfortunately, they paint a pretty bleak picture.”

Dular points to studies that have found that women do more emotional labor in their relationships than men and that up to 80% of women fake an orgasm, with 92% of women doing so to protect their partner's ego. Proponents of 4B point out that women are almost twice as likely as men to perform unpaid physical labor at home and are often forced to cope with their partner's instrumentalized incompetence. Studies have also shown that single women are much happier than women married to men – for all of these reasons and more.

No gender is a monolith, but many women have decided that enough is enough. They plan to take back their power by joining this movement, posting about it on TikTok, and spreading the message that you don't actually have to be involved with men if you don't want to. For some, it's time to opt out.