As I was scrolling through TikTok in the following days of the election, I kept coming across videos of women shaving their heads and discussing the 4B movement. In utter confusion, I wanted to know more about this and why so many women were adamant about this movement, so I did some research myself to see what it was all about. After learning more, I quickly realized that this was so much more that a TikTok trend, it’s a powerful message to the patriarchy in which we live in.
First off, what is the 4B movement? This movement originally started in South Korea and stands for “no birth, no boyfriend, no marriage, and no beauty”. Essentially, the movement started due to such oppressing circumstances for women in South Korea, where their rights were nonexistent and they were not respected as human beings. South Korean women made an alliance to not entertain men, go on dates, fit into the “male gaze”, reproduce with men, and instead would support women owned businesses, focus on themselves and overall not give any attention to men in their society. This movement encourages women to reject the roles that are expected of them in order to show the men in society that if they cannot acknowledge and respect women as human beings, then women will not adhere to these conventional roles.
After Donald Trump was re-elected to be president last Tuesday, many women in America mourn their rights. For many women, this election result felt like a direct threat to their bodily autonomy and access to essential healthcare. Trump’s position on abortion has been clear, shown by his efforts to appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court, support restrictive state laws, and even suggest a potential national ban. His new presidential term suggests that this rigid agenda on reproductive rights will only grow stronger, causing many women to mourn the future of their autonomy over their own bodies. Reasonably, women across America are resulting to adhering to the 4B movement to resist this society that is actively limiting women’s rights. It’s a powerful message to all of the men who hold power and decide what women can and cannot do with their bodies.
Although extreme, I believe this movement showcases the scary reality for American women. The fact that it has come this far, to where woman feel the need to completely avoid men, shows how deeply entrenched patriarchal expectations and gender inequalities have become. The continued rollback of rights, like access to abortion and contraception, along with the increased politicization of gender roles, has left many women feeling as though rejecting these norms is the only way to protect their autonomy.
Women are always judged in the patriarchy we live in, whether it’s for their appearance, how they position themselves in society, their perceived level of femininity, and quite literally every other aspect imaginable. This judgment is reinforced by a patriarchal culture that prioritizes women’s bodies as objects for consumption and ultimately places an enormous burden on women to adhere to unrealistic beauty standards. I think women are adopting an attitude of “what do we have to lose?” because, in many ways, we are already fighting against a system that restricts our autonomy and voices.
I am interested to see if the 4B movement will continue to rise in popularity among American women, and I think it will depend on the political climate surrounding abortion rights. The real question isn’t whether women will continue to resist—it’s whether society will listen.
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