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A growing number of American women are turning to the 4B feminist protest movement in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory and are abstaining from romantic relationships with men.
The movement, which began in South Korea around the mid-2010s, was pioneered by feminists determined to dismantle traditional gender expectations and involves four "nos": bihon (no marriage), bichulsan (no childbirth), biyeonae (no dating) and bisekseu (no sex). It encourages women to reclaim autonomy over their bodies.
"The 4B movement is a powerful example of women pushing back against the roles society expects them to fill," psychologist and dating expert Leah Levi told Newsweek.
It gained traction after the murder of a 23-year-old woman in a public restroom near Gangnam station in Seoul by a man who reportedly resented women. "That event, and the frustrating lack of accountability from authorities, pushed women to their limit," Levi said. "They were tired of feeling unsafe, sidelined and undervalued—so 4B became a way to reclaim their lives on their own terms."
Now, across the North Pacific, a number of American women feel a similar sense of frustration following the election of Trump, whose controversial decisions and personal history have exacerbated fears around gender inequality and violence.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email. Trump appointed three conservative Supreme Court judges during his previous tenure, which ultimately led to the landmark 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection for abortion access. Since then, 17 states restricted or severely limited abortion access.
However, earlier this year, Trump refused to endorse a national abortion ban, instead supporting the idea that abortion laws should be determined by the states. He also expressed support for exceptions in cases of rape and incest.
In response to growing concerns over reproductive rights, abortion was a key issue on the ballot in 10 states this year. South Dakota, Florida and Nebraska voted to uphold bans or increase restrictions on abortion access, with Florida upholding a six-week deadline for pregnancy termination. Missouri, Montana, New York, Nevada, Maryland, Colorado and Arizona all voted to establish or reinforce measures for abortion rights.
Further female outrage was provoked when a civil trial found Trump liable for sexual abuse against columnist E. Jean Carroll, an event that some say normalizes predatory behavior.
"Trump's victory has lit a flame for a lot of women," said Abby, a 27-year-old from Florida who told her story of breaking up with her Republican boyfriend and officially joining the 4B movement on TikTok.
The video, shared to her account @rabbitsandtea, had 1.8 million likes and 9.7 million views at the time of going to press. Abby chose not to disclose her last name due to safety concerns since she has since received death threats online.
"I knew that my boyfriend and I didn't exactly see eye to eye on politics, but I had no idea how bad it was until election night. He said (referring to Trump): 'You can't hate him for just a little sexual assault,'" the artist told Newsweek.
For Abby, that comment was a wake-up call."It was the horror movie 'the call is coming from inside the house' moment," she said. Abby sees Trump's reelection as a sign that a significant amount of American men—fathers, sons and partners who voted in their majority for Trump—are willing to prioritize financial concerns over women's safety.
"I fear The Handmaid's Tale will become our reality," Brooke Arrington, a 37-year-old teacher from Atlanta, told Newsweek. She too shared her decision to pledge allegiance to the 4B movement in a TikTok video on her account @halloweenkween1, which went viral.
Previously intent on marriage and children, Arrington now worries more about her personal safety and decided to cut ties with American men three months ago. "Now, in a Trump-led country, my safety is more of a concern than ever," she said.
Arrington, who lives in Georgia, where abortion is banned after six weeks except in extreme circumstances, appreciates that her choice to disengage from romantic relationships mostly eliminates worries about unwanted pregnancy.
"I plan to do as much decentering of men as possible, beyond the groundwork I have already started," she said. "This means not appealing to the male gaze and not allowing myself to be part of a system that directly benefits men."
She also noted that dating apps are particularly disheartening, as many men she's encountered have obscured their true political beliefs to win a date. "Even if they didn't think their values were misogynistic or Republican, they were," she said. "Many identified as 'liberal' but were raised by Republicans and did not see me as a person."
Gabrielle Oliver, 28, a creative advertising copywriter from Maryland, stopped dating in April. Her decision to forego having children was reinforced by the election result. She believes that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' loss to a "convicted felon" is down to the fact she is a Black woman in a country with racist roots and which did not want to see a woman in power.
"Thankfully I live in Maryland where we just added the right to abortion as a state constitutional right," Oliver added, "but if Trump overrides this with a national abortion ban, then I am sure I will hear countless horror stories of women in my state with ectopic pregnancies and failed miscarriages that require abortions to survive die painfully—stories that are already happening in red states and will continue to happen there for the next four years at least."
Increasing Interest
As well as trending on social media, 4B movement spiked as a Google search term immediately after the election. "The fact that so many American women are googling the 4B movement and want to take up this strategy shows you the kind of hostile environment in which American women live right now," Sarah Liu, a senior lecturer in gender and politics at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K., told Newsweek.
"The election of Trump is a wake-up call to many women in the U.S. that patriarchy is alive and thriving in their homeland." "While women can employ myriad methods to protest, the 4B movement seems like one of the ultimate strategies to resist the gendered expectations placed on women, particularly as it centers on the reproductive abilities of women and on the gendered expectations of heterosexual relationships," she added.
But while the feminist protest might appear to be gaining traction in the U.S. due to the political climate, "it's also important to remember that while Trump's major supporters are men, many women, particularly white women, also voted for Trump," Liu said.
"So the 4B movement might further this impression that men are the major force behind Trump's election, ignoring the role white women play."
Indeed, 44 percent of women aged 18-44 voted for Trump in the election, rising to 48 percent for women aged 45 and over, according to AP VoteCast. A majority of 53 percent of white women backed the president-elect.
A Different View of 4B
Some women have welcomed the movement for other reasons. Bernadine Bluntly from Texas, who runs dating courses online at her Embracing Woman Academy and posts on X and Instagram, told Newsweek she has been "telling women to guard their hearts, bodies and wombs for years. Whatever causes women to come to that same conclusion is welcomed by me."
"A lot of my Christian, conservative followers on social media are beyond thrilled to welcome the 'American 4B movement' because this is what we've been trying to explain to them for so long: rejecting the sexual revolution mindset of casual sex is for your own good. When God set rules and boundaries, it wasn't to withhold freedom and fun from us, it was to secure protection and stability and joy," the 34-year-old married mother of six said.
"Being intentional with your dating relationships is a game-changer. Saving sex for marriage...will absolutely level up your life. Being highly selective about which man you'll have and raise children with is crucial.
"I believe dating is solely for the purpose of life-long commitment (i.e. marriage). Otherwise, what is the point besides wasting each other's time and playing with each other's emotions?
"If the very real consequences of casual sex, low-intentional dating and potential pregnancies...becomes more tangible and serious now, then I'm glad more women are waking up to the very real responsibility they have with mate-selection."
A Risk of Further Division
While the movement might be growing in appeal in the U.S. due to the political environment, Liu warned it could lead to further division. "It is possible that the movement could lead to a backlash and more antagonism towards feminism from men."
"It would create a further divide between women and men, leading men to be even more disgruntled, and perhaps an even more misogynist culture," Liu said.
"As American men are grappling with the shift in gender roles, which has been one of the reasons why they've voted for conservative leaders like Trump, women's agency in partaking in the U.S. version of the 4B movement would further confirm their beliefs that their masculinity is threatened and that they need to take back the control of women."
Liu said it could even lead to spikes in violence against women. "We already know that women face domestic violence at a greater rate than men do," she said.
"When women try to claim their agency and refuse sex to their male partners, it is possible that such a refusal could anger men. Evidence shows that men tend to use violence against their women partners as an emotional outlet.... Therefore, it could be expected that some women who partake in the 4B movement are subject to greater risks of violence."
For Oliver, 4B is a chance to send a message. She pointed to South Korea's birth rate, which has fallen to record lows, and deemed it a success for the movement that could be replicated in the U.S.
"We can do the same and grow our movement even more so that people understand just how dire this predicament of inequality is," she said.
