What The Radical Feminism Of South Korea’s 4B Online Movement Has To Teach Us

The 4B movement originated in South Korea in the late 2010s and proposes that women refuse to engage in dating, marriage, sex, or having children with men. Following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the once marginalised movement enjoyed a moment of traction online with American women fearing for their reproductive, economic, and social rights. 

Though the movement is fringe in South Korea, and largely just an online talking point in the Western world, it is worth noting its connection to historical feminist movements amidst the proliferation of increasingly polarised and misogynistic online spaces on X, Reddit, and Tiktok. For example, the infamous S.C.U.M manifesto by Valerie Solanas espouses similar ideas (in a more satirical fashion) regarding the inherently evil nature of men. Such blanket statements about the nature of men and relationships admit that they are reductionist, but cite social phenomena such as the #MeToo movement to prove that enough men pose a danger to women to merit the generalisation. 

On the other hand, long-standing forms of anarcha-feminism prioritise agency above all, including a woman’s choice to participate in free love, same-sex relationships, or abstinence. This has set the basis for modern day liberal feminism that emphasises accepting the choices that women make as inherently feminist.

Yet, this type of choice centric feminism is widely critiqued, especially in the context of societies where access to abortion, divorce, and liberty as a woman is limited, and the conversation around agency shifts. We must accept the fact that there are societal structures which make social and economic aspects of life easier when partnered with a man. This is a truth that exists behind any heterosexual partnership. The 4B movement is often interpreted as shaming women who participate in heterosexuality and perpetuate these structures, yet it has empowered thousands of women online to leave harmful relationships. 

Ultimately, the movement poses the question of whether women need to work with men to resolve misogyny. Moreover, to what extent is it our responsibility to humanise ourselves enough to educate men to treat us better? Proponents of the 4B movement argue that empathy is an inefficient tool to change the behaviour of misogynists, and women should isolate themselves from men rather than attempting to portray themselves as objects of sympathy. While critiquing the vast majority of women who engage in heterosexual relationships seems to be decidedly anti-feminist, choice feminism sorely needs a challenge. Moreover, members of the 4B movement are aware of the fact that they are ostracised as a fringe “femcel” movement that occupies the same online sphere as the involuntarily celibate “incel” male community. 

Is it anti-feminist to be with a man? Does choosing to engage in the inherent power dynamic in a romantic relationship make a woman male-centred, as members of the online 4B community might suggest? The emergence of these discourses harkens back to an age-old fact: radical feminism is always going to make people uncomfortable in that it challenges a status quo that many people in the modern era actively choose to perpetuate. However, on 4B online spaces, such as the Reddit forum r/4bmovement, women often label other women in their real lives as “male-centred”, which creates a dangerous and deeply divisive distinction between 4B women and heterosexual women who engage with men. 

As women, we should be uncomfortable with the power structures that bind us to heterosexuality, especially if we choose to, or are forced to, engage with men in any capacity. In South Korea, the 4B movement has been incorrectly blamed for contributing to the worryingly low birth rate. No fringe online movement has the capacity to dismantle a global hierarchy that men sit at the top of simply by convincing women to de-centre men wholly from their lives. Moreover, the 4B movement gained more online traction in the West than it ever did in South Korea, demonstrating a desire to sensationalise the movement and portray it as more mainstream than it ever was or likely ever will be.

 It is also important to note that the 4B movement has been criticised for its similarity to anti-natalist movements and the homophobic and transphobic stances of many of its members. Is the 4B movement setting back feminism as choice feminists and men claim it is, or is it reintroducing radical fringe ideas to feminist theory and encouraging women to evaluate their relationships more critically? 

I’d suggest that reality lies in the latter. True choice feminism relies on the fact that women are empowered to make educated choices that benefit them. By incorporating ideas like those of the 4B movement into mainstream discourse amidst online gender wars, we are not so gently reminded that we can simply decide to opt out of the discourse.

Image: Flickr/Eva the Weaver Licence.

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