By Zoe Dufaux-Tobiano, Year 10
NO sex, NO marriage, NO childbirth and NO dating: this is the motto of the new feminist movement in South Korea. This movement, otherwise known as the 4B movement, started in 2017-2018. It was initiated as a result of the South Korean government heavily advocating for women to have more children, as their fertility rate is the lowest in the world, averaging at 0.78 births per women. Additionally, South Koreas president, Yoon Suk Yeol, removed all forms of advocacy for ’gender equality’ from various textbooks, as well as attempting to shut down the ministers of gender equality and family: further incentivising the formation of this movement.
But why do so many women refuse to date, marry, have sex and give birth? Well, there are several reasons; one of them being that even when they are not pregnant, women are paid a little over ⅓ of the male salary. Another reason is because of the extremely high living cost in Korea. In Korea, a one bedroom apartment costs 830 USD per month to rent, utilities are around 170 USD per month, and the cost of having a child is 361 USD per month, per child. It is practically impossible to finance all of these costs considering that the average salary in South Korea is around 2’603 USD. A final reason this movement has gained popularity is that many compagnies are discriminatory towards women who are pregnant. When a woman is pregnant or when she gives birth; compagnies often “punish her”, by kicking her out of important projects or by pushing the woman to quit her job. They view her as less capable and therefore dont give her the opportunities she deserves to have. These unacceptable government behaviours and policies discourage women from providing to society, and make the movement seem a lot more appealing.
Recently, this movement has spread in the United States, especially following the election of Donald Trump. Many women on Tik Tok have been shaving their heads and refusing to engage in relationships with any man during the next 4 years. Other women that are married or in a relationship stopped supporting male owned business or stopped prioritizing being the emotional support for their husbands. A woman called Alexa Vargas is a big advocate of the movement, who blew up on Tik Tok when Trump was elected. She joined the movement two years ago and has since talked about the movement on her page. She is one of the first western women to talk about it and has repeatedly stated that ‘’we are not going to settle for men that don’t respect us anymore’’, and therefore completely stopped dating.
So, is this movement actually going to change anything?
Presumably, the birth rate is going to decrease in South Korea by at least a small amount, as this movement is supported by a large percentage of the female population. In the United States however, the birth rate won’t be affected as much, since this movement only resonates with a small percentage of the female population; most of the women that follow the 4B movement are liberal and only 25% of the women living in America identify with this ideology. Nevertheless, the initiation of this movement is a great symbol of resilience towards society´s misogynistic practices and a motif of strength for all females around the globe.
Sources
https://www.educations.com/study-guides/asia/study-in-south-korea/student-housing-19037
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/09/us/4b-movement-trump-south-korea-wellness-cec/index.html
