Dating Reality
How the 4B Movement Affects American Men’s Dating Lives
What started as a radical feminist movement in East Asia is now making waves in the West, leaving a lot of American men to wonder if their quest for love will suffer as more and more ladies in the US take their fight for women’s rights to another level.
What is the 4B movement? If it started on the other side of the world, why is it affecting women from other countries, including in America? What does this campaign mean for Western men?
These are just some of the questions people have been asking me lately, so I’ll try to provide an outline for others who are just as curious.
About South Korea’s 4B Movement
Why did the 4B movement start?
In 2016, the Korean people were stunned by the brutal murder of a 23-year-old woman at a public unisex restroom in Gangnam Station.
The assailant, a 34-year-old man who worked at a nearby liquor store, claimed that he stabbed the victim in the chest four times because he felt “ignored and belittled” by women his entire life. Based on surveillance footage, he waited over an hour and ignored several men who used the facility before the victim arrived.
This incident sparked outrage among women and feminists in South Korea, where discourse surrounding gender equality and sexual violence has always been tense to begin with.
Not only did thousands of people flock to a memorial by the subway station exit, but the Korean 4B movement was also born as a result of what happened.
It stands for four Korean words that serve as the tenets of the campaign: bihon (비혼) or no heterosexual marriage, bichulsan (비출산) or no childbirth, biyeonae (비연애) or no heterosexual dating, and biseksu (비섹스) or no sex with men.
The 4B Movement’s Impact on American Dating
How big is the 4B movement and how does it affect Americans?
Though the 4B movement was primarily in South Korea, the 2024 US Election results, which will give Donald Trump a second term in office as the 47th president, have caused many American women to consider adopting the same crusade.
Trump is controversial for his opinion on many social issues, among them women’s rights. Many feminists believe that under his administration, women will experience severe gender inequality.
This is why those in the US who support the 4B movement have started swearing off dating and relationships with men. Western men, in turn, are worrying about what this means for their dating prospects and future in romance.
Personally, I don’t see this as a major concern that American men should really worry about.
I’ve found that women who will seriously embrace the 4B movement as a lifestyle weren’t very interested in relationships with men in the first place. Even without the campaign, men would be hard-pressed to make a move on them and have good chances of success.
The dating market for Western men isn’t also exclusive to Western women with radical feminist ideals. Not all American women will follow South Korea’s lead in this initiative, and many women in other parts of the world won’t be interested in even considering doing the same.
Women have a right to protest any issue that they believe is important to them, but when it comes to dating and relationships, a person’s response to the 4B movement will often be a reflection of their preexisting dating preferences.
Even if you’re a man worried about not finding a woman in your country who will give men the time of day, you don’t have to fret too much. Chances are, the ladies who are now proclaiming they will never go out with you never would have before, and for reasons that are simply beyond your control.
Perhaps what you should do instead is focus on women who have the same dating goals and expectations as you do.
And perhaps a change of scenery is something else you should try to meet the one for you.
References
Borowiec, Steven. 2016. “A woman’s slaying in Seoul’s tony Gangnam district stirs emotions in South Korea.” Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-south-korea-woman-killed-20160521-snap-story.html.
Kaur, Harmeet. 2024. “4B movement surges in interest among US women after Trump election win.” CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/09/us/4b-movement-trump-south-korea-wellness-cec/index.html.
Schwartz, Rafi, and Jeva Lange. 2024. “Things Trump has said about women.” The Week. https://theweek.com/donald-trump/655770/61-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-women.
