Maria Salette Ontiveros | (TNS) The Dallas Morning News
After President-elect Donald Trump’s win over Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day, online search trends reveal a surge of interest in a new movement in the United States.
The 4B movement, which aims to “decenter men” from women’s lives, began as a feminist initiative in South Korea and has since gained traction on platforms like TikTok and X.
The term 4B movement went viral online in the U.S. the day after Trump won the White House against his second female opponent, generating thousands of videos, responses and engagements across social media, particularly TikTok.
Many women reacted online to the large number of male voters who showed up to elect Trump.
“Right now is a good time to start a 4B movement. Let male loneliness actually become an epidemic since they hate women so much,” an X user wrote online.
Users have been highlighting the benefits of the four in 4B “no’s” — no sex, no dating or marriage with men, and no children.
On Nov. 6 at 4 a.m., search results were at zero for the 4B movement, but later in the night at 10 p.m., the highest searches for the movement came from Trump-won states, such as North Dakota and Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press.
What is the 4B movement and how did it start?
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The 4B movement originated in 2017 and garnered increased attention by 2019, during a #MeToo-like awakening in South Korea.
Women in South Korea had protested against the “shockingly widespread” gender-based violence, as described by Human Rights Watch, and demanded stricter punishments for “spy cam porn.”
Participants in the movement since then have condemned the significant gender wage gap, with South Korean women earning 3.2% less than men in 2022, according to the Korean Times. Additionally, they have also highlighted discrimination and workplace harassment.
The 4B community largely exists online, with participants referring to themselves as “anonymous women” and revealing minimal personal information. It functions without any formal leadership structure.
According to Yonsei University, feminists started the 4B movement which includes: bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae and bisekseu, which means the refusal of heterosexual marriage, childbirth, romance and sexual relationships with men.
Why the spike of interest after the election results?
A notable focus of the recent presidential election and various state races was on gender and gender-based rights.
Among the key issues influencing some voters were abortion and reproductive rights, which Harris and U.S. Rep. Colin Allred emphasized during their campaigns.
Following Trump’s election victory on Tuesday, exit polls reported that he gained significant support from men. According to the exit polls, 55% of men cast their votes for Trump, compared to 53 percent of women who supported Harris.
In 2022, Nick Fuentes, who had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, made a controversial post on X stating, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” This post, which received widespread criticism, mirrors similar content circulating on social media.
“We can’t let these men have the last laugh… we need to bite back,” a user on X wrote on Nov. 6 at 12:05 a.m., a post that garnered at least 470,000 likes.
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