Imagine a quiet rebellion, all centred around the simple concept of ‘no’. No to marriage, no to dating, no to makeup, no to heteronormative expectations. That’s the gist of South Korea’s 4B movement, where women are taking a hard pass on society’s to-do list for them. It’s a bold response to a culture that’s traditionally expected them to smile through pay gaps, beauty rituals, and outright misogyny. Instead, these women are hitting back by opting out entirely and flipping the script with an unapologetic shrug.

And here’s the kicker—it’s spreading. Women around the world are watching, and as the global conversation around gender and equality deepens, 4B is showing that sometimes the strongest statement isn’t a protest, it’s just walking away.

Donald Trump was just re-elected as President of the United States… If there was a time to start pondering the positives of radical feminism, it’s now.

Starting in South Korea around 2019, 4B stands for four Korean words beginning with “bi” or “no”: bihon (no heterosexual marriage), bichulsan (no childbirth), biyeonae (no dating), and bisekseu (no heterosexual sex). Over time, this movement has gone viral on social media, amassing millions of views and thousands of supporters who’ve pooled their collective experiences to spread messages of empowerment. It might sound intense, but as reported by the international affairs reviews, given South Korea’s long-standing issues with gender inequality and high rates of intimate-partner violence, some would argue that 4B is more than justified.

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In fact, South Korea’s struggles with gender violence are significant. A 2016 survey reported that 41.5 per cent of South Korean women had experienced intimate partner violence, compared to a global average of 30 per cent. South Korea also holds the record for the highest gender pay gap in the developed world; women earn a full 31 per cent less than men, nearly triple the average in other high-income countries. For a generation of young Korean women facing a limited spectrum of life choices within a deeply patriarchal society, 4B feels like a reasonable response.

And, well, the method is actually working, so much so that the president himself has raised alarms. In October 2022, Yoon Suk Yeol claimed that “structural sexism” is a myth and even blamed feminism for South Korea’s plummeting birth rate—the lowest in the world, now at just 0.72 births per woman. If trends continue, the population could halve by 2100. Yoon’s reaction to this ongoing shift? He campaigned to dismantle the Ministry of Gender Equality, though opposition lawmakers blocked the effort. But his stance against feminist activism has only fueled the cultural clash between South Korean men and women, sparking yet more debate.

As reported by The Independent, in the 2022 election, this divide was sharp: 59 per cent of men under 30 voted for Yoon, while only 34 per cent of women in that age bracket did. While South Korea’s recent general election gave the liberal opposition a decisive win, the question remains: Is the gender gap in voting now wider than ever?

The 4B movement’s fierce rejection of patriarchy has drawn strong reactions, particularly from misogynistic communities like Ilbe, (A south Korean Internet forum that has a predominantly far-right user base.) which routinely mock women, calling educated, independent women “Kimchee women,” a derogatory term for those they see as vain and selfish. With men still required to serve 18 months of military conscription, while women are exempt, gender resentment has simmered, with Ilbe and similar groups becoming increasingly vocal about their frustrations.

In response, many women in South Korea are doubling down on resistance. The escape the corset movement, which encourages women to cut their hair short and forgo makeup, has become a visible stand against society’s rigid beauty standards. For some, it’s a symbolic stepping-stone into 4B, where they distance themselves further from traditional expectations tied to family and marriage.

During an interview for WPR, featured in The Independent’s coverage of the 4B movement, one supporter expressed that as long as women lack true economic power, society will keep pressuring them to bear children for the nation, stating: “For a long time, patriarchal norms governed South Korean society. But those social norms dissolved with democratisation, and I don’t think we have established new norms that can fill the vacuum.”

The 4B movement’s rise isn’t just striking a nerve in South Korea, it’s resonating with women worldwide, especially in the US, where the political landscape seems hell-bent on keeping women in check. Following Donald Trump’s recent reelection over Vice President Kamala Harris, the buzz around 4B skyrocketed.

Trump’s campaign proudly paraded the Supreme Court’s 2022 Roe v. Wade reversal as a great Republican success, gleefully rejoicing in their success in erasing decades of progress on reproductive rights. This year, women in Missouri even managed to reverse a restrictive abortion ban, flooding to the polls in force to protect their rights. But with Trump back in the Oval Office, many American women have voiced an unsettling realisation, the realisation that large swaths of the country seem more comfortable with a man and convicted rapist in power than with a competent woman.

The irony isn’t lost on anyone. As 4B’s stance against entrenched patriarchy takes off, its message feels all the more pointed in a world where misogyny keeps bouncing back like a bad sequel. For a growing number of women, 4B isn’t extreme, it’s logical.

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As seen across social media over the past few days, the 4B movement’s ethos—and its persistent refusal to conform to patriarchal expectations—has found resonance among American women.

If history taught us anything, it’s that when women band together—whether through protests, social media, or simply saying “no thanks” to the status quo—real change can happen. Maybe it’s time to kick off a new era of resistance. Is anyone else keen?