What Is The 4B Movement? South Korea's Marriage Boycott (2024)

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen the viral TikTok about the ‘4B Movement’. In the clip, which has garnered nearly 900,000 likes, a TikToker named Jeanie discusses how women in South Korea are, basically, boycotting men.

“I think it’s so f***ing funny that Korean women are so done with Korean men that they’re literally just deciding to die out,” the video begins.

She then adds: “Y’all heard of the 4B movement? I’m a big fan.”

Jeanie, also known as denimchromosome on TikTok, explains the 4B movement as women “giving up” on men, preferring to “go extinct” in protest.

“[Women] are like, ‘[Men are] f***ing assholes, they’re not going to change, so we’re all going to go extinct.’”

In other words, Korean women are so fed up with misogyny that they’re going on strike from heterosexual relationships, and all that would traditionally imply (like, birth and marriage).

While it might sound niche in concept, it’s possible the movement could speak to one reason behind South Korea’s plummeting birth rate. The nation currently holds the lowest birth rate in the world (0.78 compared to a global average of 2.3. Australia’s is around 1.58).

More to the point, the viral clip seems to have other women asking if they too should participate in this ‘boycott’. Based on the video’s comments, the 4B movement has plenty of incidental supporters well beyond South Korea.

If you’re wanting a bit more info, we’ve gathered some answers for your burning questions about the 4B movement.

What Is The 4B Movement?

The 4B movement started online, where it quickly picked up traction with the public. YouTubers Jung Se-young and Baeck Ha-na are credited with its origins.

Via their YouTube channel, SOLOdarity, the two encouraged women to reject traditional feminine roles, like marriage and raising children, arguing that marriage was the “root cause of patriarchy”.

The “no marriage” and subsequent 4B movements are the culmination of gender-based protests happening throughout South Korea in response to issues like violence against women, femicide, revenge p*rn and a spate of secret spy cams targeting women. It was also an extension of the global ‘Me Too’ movement, which began in 2017.

In 4B ideology, resisting marriage and childbirth is the only way a woman can live autonomously, given South Korea’s deeply entrenched patriarchal customs.

What Do The 4 Bs Mean?

There are literally four Bs of the 4B movement. Each of these words starts with Bi, or in Korean, ‘no’.

They are:

• Bihon: no marriage
• Bisekseu: no sex with men
• Bichulsan: no child-rearing
• Beonae: no dating men

Why Did The 4B Movement Start?

TikTok seems to have nailed the vibe: women are simply fed up.

Especially in Korea, where traditional gender roles remain entrenched, and violence against women is high.

Some may even be more inclined to ask: “Why wouldn’t 4B exist?”

Recent catalysts, however, include high profile murders of women. In its 4B expose, The Cut pointed to an instance of a young man murdering a young woman in a public bathroom, claiming he did so because women ignored him. The police, however, wouldn’t classify the incident as a hate crime.

The article also pointed to unequal penalties of men committing crimes like revenge p*rn and “spy-cam sex crimes”, while a 25-year-old woman who shared a photo of a nude male model at art school non-consensually was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Either way, these movements are finding large communities online, where women are flocking to share their grievances with other women.

While there’s no way of knowing how many women are actively participating in the 4B movement, on TikTok, at least, a mere viral clip is enough to warrant over 800k likes and thousands of comments — many from women calling for its worldwide progression.