The 4B movement that sparked global interest in the wake of the US election has grown out of an intensely unequal society

Summary

South Korea’s 4B movement—rejecting marriage, childbirth, dating, and sex—has gained global attention as a feminist response to gender inequality, amplified by Donald Trump’s election.

Rooted in a society with the OECD’s widest gender pay gap, it reflects women’s frustration with patriarchal norms.

While viral online, 4B faces intense backlash domestically, with feminism often stigmatized as radical or “man-hating.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s anti-feminist rhetoric and rising misogyny have worsened divisions. Many women now practice “quiet feminism,” avoiding public activism amid hostility. Experts caution against oversimplified links between 4B and South Korea’s record-low birthrate.