Women in America are giving up sex with men, dating, marriage and having babies following the re-election of Donald Trump.
Such women are taking their inspiration from a South Korean feminist movement called ‘4B’ - in Korean, the four words begin with a 'b' sound which is where the name comes from.
The movement began in order to protest sexism and on The Pat Kenny Show, POLITICO assistant editor Catherine Kim said this has become especially appealing to American women following the presidential election.
“It started in the late 2010s in South Korea in these feminist circles - but it really gained steam following the 2018 Me Too reckoning in Korea,” she said.
"Then again, Korea's presidential election in 2022, it was a similar election as it was in the US where a conservative presidential candidate ran a pretty controversial campaign capitalising on the gender divide
“I think a lot of women, like the US women are [feeling] right now, felt vulnerable, and really started living by a lot of the principles that have been mentioned in 4B.”
People stage a rally supporting feminism in Seoul, South Korea. The signs at top read "The 20th Presidential Election Vote." Photo: AP /Ahn Young-joon). 12 February 2022Ms Kim said she came across the movement through her cousin, who is Korean.
“She told me ‘I just don't want to date, I have no interest in dating men’,” she said.
“What I found most striking was this future that she envisioned for herself, it wasn't something that I thought of for myself.
“A lot of women hadn't thought of [it] for themselves, but [it had] become so normal among Korean women.”
Emboldened by Trump
According to Ms Kim, women in the US are increasingly cautious of all men as they have been ‘emboldened’ by Trump to make sexist remarks.
“I think that ‘your body, my choice’ slogan that's being thrown around by some men online, just really speaks to the vulnerability that women are feeling,” she said.
“I think a big reason why the women who are most intrigued by the 4B Movement, the reason why that they're unhappy, is the worry that Donald Trump will embolden a lot of men in their sexism and in their misogynistic language.
“Lo and behold, that is what we're seeing in these comments.”
Kamala Harris is the second female presidential candidate to lose to Donald Trump after Hillary Clinton in 2020.
