4B (or "Four No's") is a radical feminist movement originating in South Korea in 2019.[1][2] Its members renounce four activities:

Jung Se-young and Baeck Ha-na, two proponents, criticize marriage as reinforcing gender roles in South Korea.[3] The movement draws some amount of inspiration from the novel Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, as does South Korea's MeToo and "Escape the Corset" movements.[2] The 4B movement claimed to have 4,000 members in 2019.[4]

The 4B movement initially gained recognition on Twitter in 2019 and through various feminist social media accounts. One notable feature of the 4B movement and other Korean digital feminist movements, is that members often identify themselves as "anonymous women," as it is conventional not to disclose personal details online.[5]

This digital movement functions as an online community where women engage in open discussion about navigating and envisioning a future without men. It serves as a platform for women to vent their frustrations and concerns about living in a conservative society while fostering a sense of solidarity. Additionally, the platform aims to motivate and inspire women to protest against dating, engaging in sexual relationships, getting married, and having children. Through a robust social media presence, the movement seeks to raise awareness and recruit more advocates to amplify its impact.

Though the exact membership remains uncertain, estimates suggest a range of 5,000 to 50,000 participants[6]

Purpose

The 4B movement is meant to serve as a direct opposition to South Korea’s patriarchal state and combat its pro-natalist policies, which view women’s bodies and reproductive abilities as tools for the state’s future. Feminists who engage in the 4B movement are known to actively resist the various ways in which gendered expectations are enforced in a conservative society, specifically relating to child-rearing, relationships, and employment.[7] This resistance involves not only withdrawing from dating but also rejecting prevalent gendered beauty standards and their associated consumerist practices in South Korea.[5] In a conservative and traditional society, alternative forms of protest in the 4B movement include defying rigid beauty norms and traditional gendered expectations by shaving heads and choosing not to wear bras.[8]

Members of the movement challenge the conventional life trajectory of marriage and family, while also condemning gender discrimination prevalent in the Korean job market, where women earn 31% less than their male counterparts, regardless of their marital or parental status.[9] The movement serves as a response to the nation's profound demographic crisis whilst simultaneously posing a threat to its democratic stability. 4B feminists reject this instrumentalization of women’s reproductive capacities and choose to distance themselves from a society they perceive as unredeemable.

While 4B advocates aspire to instigate societal change through in-person demonstrations, online activism, and by exemplifying an alternative lifestyle for other women, their focus is not on changing the perspective of men, as they are seen as oppressors.[10]

History of the Movement

The 4B movement in South Korea grew out of a series of preceding social movements that gained traction in social media.[8]

Escape the Corset Movement

The Escape the Corset Movement that started in 2016 served as a source of inspiration for the 4B movement. The movement calls for women to liberate themselves from sexual, social, bodily, and from psychological oppression.[11] The word “corset” is used by Korean feminists as a metaphor for the societal mechanisms that bind and repress women, including toxic beauty standards. Notably, South Korea has the 10th largest beauty market globally and is the third-largest exporter of cosmetics.[12] In a society where beauty holds immense cultural and economic significance, Members of the Escape the Corset Movement criticize and resist cosmetic procedures, demanding skincare or makeup rituals, and the adoption of trendy clothing, all seen as perpetuating consumerism and misogynistic social norms. In protest, they express their defiance by destroying makeup, forgoing cosmetic enhancements, shaving their heads, and rejecting fashionable attire. Escape the Corset's analysis and approach to protest deeply influenced the 4B movement.

South Korea’s #MeToo Movement

Although the #MeToo movement originated in the United States in 2006 and gained popularity in 2017, many other countries, including South Korea created #MeToo movements of their own. The #MeToo movement in South Korea, like those in other countries, encouraged women to express their experiences of sexual harassment to inspire social change. Shortly after its inception in late 2017, several hundred women stepped forward with claims of sexual harassment and violence.[13] This movement also led to women who were forced into sex work as a result of World War II and the Japanese occupation of Korea to speak out for the first time and in large numbers.[13] The Korean #MeToo movement also focused on femicide, nonconsenual pornography, and misogynistic practices in the workplace.

The #MeToo movement also inspired various other online hashtag campaigns, most popularly the #WithYou[13] tag, to signal solidarity with survivors of sexual assault who had spoken in the #MeToo movement. These various hashtags inspired the formation of women’s activist groups, such as Citizens Action to Support the #MeToo Movement, who campaigned to end gendered oppression and support victims of sexual abuse in South Korea.[14] The #MeToo movement on Twitter served as a catalyst for the emergence of the 4B movement in South Korea, as individuals exposed to #MeToo were led to the radical feminist ideologies propagated by groups advocating for the principles of 4B, rejecting sex, child-rearing, dating, and marriage with men.

Bihon (Marriage)

Since 2005, a feminist activist group, UnniNetwork, has promoted bison as a political agenda to challenge the centrality of the heteronormative family model of marriage in Korea. They sought to replace mihon, 'not married', with a more neutral term, bihon, 'single'.[15] However, their feminist bison discourse did not gain major traction. On the other hand, the 4B movement employs "bihon" as a tool to actively protest against the prevailing culture of marriage.

Although the practice of bihon, or marriage in English was commonplace in Korea prior to the 1990s, the rate at which heterosexual couples are wedding in the country has drastically decreased.

Bichulsan (Childbirth)

Having the world's lowest fertility rate, the South Korea government has shifted its approach to pro-natalist policies aimed at incentivizing an increase in childbirths such as stipends for new parents, increased maternal and paternal leave, and child care subsidies.[16]

As a result of the ongoing "birth strike," South Korea faces a demographic crisis due to its exceptionally low fertility rate, which stands at an alarming 0.78. This figure means that, on average, each South Korean woman is having fewer than one child (0.78 children) over her lifetime, a rate significantly below the 2.1 threshold required to maintain a stable population.[17] This demographic trend is so pronounced that the UN anticipates the nation’s population, which is around 51 million, might decrease to about half the size by the end of the century. This crisis is exacerbated by the country’s deeply ingrained patriarchal culture and the economic insecurity experienced by young adults. These factors contribute to women’s reluctance to embrace traditional roles of marriage and motherhood.

A 2022 survey reveals that 65% of women, compared to 48% of men, do not want children.[14] The country has experienced the lowest fertility rate globally for three consecutive years. This has led the country to demographic challenges, such as the "dead cross" where deaths surpass births. Half of South Korea's cities, counties, and districts face the risk of losing a substantial number of residents.

Biyeonae (Romance) and Bisekseu (Sexual Relationships)

Women of the 4B movement additionally refuse romance and sexual relationships, because they see it as an extension of the patriarchal family structure.[5] By embracing singlehood, they reorient themselves towards imagining futures for themselves outside of marriage and deny their bodies as reproductive centers for the pronatalist state.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The feminist movement urging South Korean women to shun marriage". South China Morning Post. December 7, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-07. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  2. 1 2 Smith, Nicola (2020-02-29). "War of the sexes in South Korea as novel becomes feminist handbook". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  3. 1 2 Yi, Beh Lih (2020-01-20). "No sex, no babies: South Korea's emerging feminists reject marriage". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  4. ↑ "South Korean radical feminism: No dating, sex, marriage or children". AsiaNews. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lee, Jieun; Jeong, Euisol (2021-07-04). "The 4B movement: envisioning a feminist future with/in a non-reproductive future in Korea". Journal of Gender Studies. 30 (5): 633–644. doi:10.1080/09589236.2021.1929097. ISSN 0958-9236. S2CID 236179425.
  6. ↑ "South Korean radical feminism: No dating, sex, marriage or children".
  7. ↑ Zimmermann, Brianna (August 8, 2023). "South Korea's 4B Movement Lowers the Birth Rate in a Fight for Gender Equality". THE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS REVIEW.
  8. 1 2 Sussman, Anna Louie (March 8, 2023). "A World Without Men The women of South Korea's 4B movement aren't fighting the patriarchy — they're leaving it behind entirely". The Cut.
  9. ↑ Gender wage gap (indicator) (Report). OECD. 2023. doi:10.1787/7cee77aa-en.
  10. ↑ Hawon, Jung (January 27, 2023). "Women in South Korea Are on Strike Against Being 'Baby-Making Machines'". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Shin, Yeongyo; Lee, Selee (2022-09-15). ""Escape the Corset": How a Movement in South Korea Became a Fashion Statement through Social Media". Sustainability. 14 (18): 11609. doi:10.3390/su141811609. ISSN 2071-1050.
  12. ↑ "SOUTH KOREA ORGANIC BEAUTY MARKET". The International Trade Administration. September 26, 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 Hasunuma, Linda; Shin, Ki-young (2019-01-02). "#MeToo in Japan and South Korea: #WeToo, #WithYou". Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. 40 (1): 97–111. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2019.1563416. ISSN 1554-477X. S2CID 182728016.
  14. 1 2 Kim, Joeun (2023), Schoen, Robert (ed.), "The Gender War and the Rise of Anti-family Sentiments in South Korea", The Demography of Transforming Families, The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis, Cham: Springer International Publishing, vol. 56, pp. 183–201, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-29666-6_9, ISBN 978-3-031-29665-9, retrieved 2023-11-29
  15. ↑ "UNNINETWORK".
  16. ↑ Ahn, Ashley (March 19, 2023). "South Korea has the world's lowest fertility rate, a struggle with lessons for us all". NPR.
  17. ↑ CORXET SOLÉ, LAIA (May 30, 2023). "SOUTH KOREA'S 4B MOVEMENT: HOW PATRIARCHY UNDERMINES DEMOGRAPHIC SECURITY".
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