Authors
Giulia Casot - Junior Researcher
Carola Sanzio - Junior Researcher
Giada Acquadro - Junior Researcher
Rosa Santa Serravalle - Senior Researcher
Marta Thorbjornsen - Senior Researcher
4. Eastern vs. Western Feminism: Contrasts, Global Movements, and the Unique Identity of the 4B Movement
After Donald Trump’s victory as the new President of the U.S., young American women expressing their support for “4B,” the South Korean feminist movement. The movement, as largely explained above, emerged in 2019 and is centered around four core principles: no marriage (bihon), no child rearing (bichulsan), no dating (biyeonae), and no heterosexual relationships (bisekseu). Unlike traditional organizations, the 4B movement lacks centralized leadership, formal structures, or headquarters. Its membership is estimated to range between 5,000 and 50,000 individuals (Sussman, 2023). While the South Korean government promotes traditional family structures to increase fertility rates, 4B feminists reject the instrumentalization of their bodies and opt out of a society they view as irredeemable. South Korea’s conservative approach to addressing declining birth rates often neglects the systemic gender inequalities that underpin the crisis. Many women express frustration at societal pressures that define their primary roles as wives and mothers, requiring them to sacrifice personal aspirations and submit to rigid gender norms.
Anarchy within the 4B movement reflects a broader refusal of institutions perceived as reinforcing South Korea’s patriarchal culture. These include traditional marriage, family structures, and hypersexualized beauty standards. This resistance is encapsulated in the earlier feminist movement, Escape the Corset (2016–2018), which encouraged women to reject oppressive beauty norms. It is an attempt by women to take charge of their living conditions and to emancipate themselves from psychological, physical, sexual, and social repression. Korean feminists define these oppressive devices as a “corset.” The corset is more metaphorical than literal in terms of its makeup and its relation to various patriarchal structures that constrain Korean women’s minds as well as their bodies. The choice of this term, corset, by Korean feminists efficiently emphasizes the intense degree of the oppression of beauty norms. For them, the corset is not a Western and obsolete device but a universal symbol of the cruelty of the male-centered economy of desire in the sense that the corset restricts breathing, breaks women’s ribs, and deforms and damages their intestines. By destroying makeup products and cutting their hair, participants symbolically defied societal expectations of femininity and conformity.
The Escape the Corset’s movement is the pioneer of the current 4B movement, whose ideology has inspired similar initiatives across Asia, including China’s 6B4T movement (originated in South Korea), which expanded the 4B principles by adding two more: boycotting sexist products (bisobi) and supporting those who practice the movement's tenets (bidopbi). Lastly, the 4T in the 6B4T stands for the rejection of the modern corset, hypersexual depictions of women in the Japanese otaku culture, religion, and idol culture. The movement critiques patriarchal systems while fostering solidarity among women who reject traditional roles and oppressive social constructs. The translations related to 6B4T have resulted in arguments on Sina Weibo, a microblogging site and major social media platform in China. The translation thus becomes “those who practice being ‘not married’ help those who practice being ‘not married’” (“NOT” help “NOT”).
Some argue it does not help married women while others opt for the version the unmarried help the unmarried (Xiaoyi, 2023). Briefly they were against married women (depicted as married donkeys), criticized for having chosen a traditional family life with children and husbands and therefore they did not have the right to take part in the movement. Despite its significant impact, the movement has faced criticism. One of the main criticisms is that the movement’s principles are considered too radical and exclusive, potentially alienating those who do not fit the strict criteria or parameters.
South Korea’s feminist movements, including 6B4T, differ significantly from Western feminist traditions. While the feminist waves in the West focused on suffrage, reproductive rights, and intersectionality, contemporary Korean feminism addresses issues arising from compressed societal changes. Unlike Western feminism, which often emphasizes public activism, Korean feminists frequently practice online “quiet feminism,” privately embracing feminist ideals while avoiding public identification due to societal backlash. This new feminism is considered by many scholars as the fourth wave, different from the previous ones. The first wave (mid-19th century) focused on women’s suffrage and legal rights. The second wave (1960s–1980s) addressed broader social inequalities, with significant contributions like Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. The third wave, beginning in the 1990s and continuing into the early 21st century, emphasized diversity, intersectionality, and individualism. However, despite its objectives, scholars often critique the third wave for its perceived lack of cohesion, engagement, and global inclusivity.
As pointed out by Friedan – objecting to the excess of the movement- “the women’s movement was not about sex, but about equal opportunity.... I suppose you have to say that freedom of sexual choice was part of that, but it should not be the main issue, the tail that wags the dog.” (Friedan,2000). On the sexual revolution, the author argued for legalizing contraception and abortion. Contraception, for Friedan, allowed women “to take control of their bodies” and “define themselves by their contribution to society, not just in terms of their reproductive role. Equally important to her was the ending of sex discrimination in employment and higher education. “Maternity is more than a myth,” Friedan wrote, and it is “neither good nor necessarily desirable to denounce all of the values of motherhood as long as one has a choice (Friedan, 1997). Women of the past had been educated under the “feminine mystique,” which taught them that the “highest value” and commitment for them is the “fulfillment of their own femininity” as housewives and mothers. Women practiced sacrificial love and care for others instead of going out into the world and competing. They raised children to lives of virtue, faith, and honesty; made beautiful homes; and generally, put familial concerns at the center of their lives. They were romantically and sexually passive, allowing men to take the initiative. The feminine mystique survived and returned: Women still “grew up under conditions” that made them “inferior to men, dependent, passive, incapable of thought or decision. Even though the internal different characteristics of the international feminist movements, the feminine mystique represents the global role of women in the patriarchal society.
Since 2015, most young Korean women have incorporated feminism as a means of survival and resistance. However, for the older feminist generation, known as the young feminists, feminism is an ethical-moral discourse based on political correctness, criticism, distancing from power, and sacrifice and care for other social minorities. Afterall, several scholars claimed that the three (fourth) waves are characterised by the so-called multiracial feminist theory. Since the first movement, it was possible to trace the difference within women themselves. Western women activists received many critiques because they were leading a universal revolution without considering social, cultural and identity differences.
Multiracial feminist theory first and foremost goes beyond an additive model of oppression by theorizing the intersectionality of different systems of oppression and by refusing the temptation to privilege one dimension of oppression or identity over others. As a whole, this theory offers three hypotheses that challenge much of the existing quantitative research on women's feminist identities and ideologies. Women's racial status may affect the relationship between women's self-identification as feminist and their feminist ideology. The history of Black women's marginalization from the women's movement, for example, may cause some hesitancy among Black women to self-identify as feminist, even if they have what many would consider to be feminist beliefs. For instance, African American feminism includes a wide range of behaviour including "actions taken to eliminate discrimination in housing, employment, education, public accommodations, and political representation and efforts to maintain and expand the social welfare system. While education, marital status, and religiosity all significantly predicted the extent to which white women embraced feminism, none of these characteristics significantly predicted Black women's relationship with feminism. African American feminism may focus more broadly on social and economic justice issues, including commitments to racial and economic equality, educational opportunities and health care. Controversially, in Korean society, what is firstly pointed out is the concept of aesthetic beauty: a beautiful woman is synonymous with a docile and harmless woman. Indeed, the feminist movements— “Escape the Corset,” and the 4B (later 6B4T) movement based on the same scopes—aim to create another modality of women’s life cycle that no longer depends on men and to invent a new form of a no docile and resistant body. In the practice of a new modality for these movements, which function as the fulcrum for a new feminist subjectivity, women stop being obsessed about weight and appearance through “Escape the Corset” and the 4B movement enables them to pursue a new life path. The women of this movement decide to live either alone or together, in both cases forming a community of women refusing marriage.
Overall, contemporary feminism is defined by its diversity of goals and approaches. Amid this multitude of voices, one constant within the movement stands out: its reliance on the internet. As the feminist movement today becomes increasingly visible yet fragmented, it has sparked renewed interest in the earlier waves of feminism. Influential figures like Betty Friedan highlighted that second-wave feminism aimed to dismantle gender stereotypes, asserting that feminism was relevant not only to women but also to men. However, second-wave feminists frequently treated women as a uniform group, overlooking the multiple dimensions of difference that shape the varied experiences within the broader category of “women.” Many commentators suggest that the rise of the internet has facilitated a shift from third-wave to fourth-wave feminism. Within the context of the American feminist movement, the historical influence of race and class privilege, combined with the differing family, education, and work experiences of women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, underscores the significant role these disparities play in shaping women’s engagement with feminism—something that quantitative sociological research often fails to fully capture. One worthy outcome of the internet is the emergence of a “call-out” culture, where instances of sexism and misogyny can be publicly identified and challenged. While some question whether increased internet usage alone constitutes a new wave of feminism, digital platforms have already enabled the formation of a global feminist community. These platforms have been used to foster discussions and drive activism. In doing so, feminists have questioned the notion that gender alone serves as a sufficient foundation for identity.
Finally, contemporary feminists have worked to highlight these axes of difference by employing various strategies, including the controversial practice of “privilege checking.” Recognizing that women are not a monolithic group has led to the development of new terminologies aimed at ensuring that individuals are not spoken for or stereotyped. For newcomers, this evolving vocabulary can be overwhelming, encompassing terms like “cis” (referring to individuals whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth), “WoC” (Women of Color), and “TERF” (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists). Despite occasional predictions of feminism’s demise, such pessimism is unwarranted. Whether or not the current era represents a distinct “fourth wave,” it is undeniable that women’s awareness of their societal roles and political struggles continues to evolve and adapt to the changing cultural landscape
5. Conclusion
This analysis has traced the complex and deeply painful history of gender discrimination and violence in South Korea, examining how waves of feminist activism have reshaped societal norms. By tracing the movement from the end of the war in 1956 to the rise of perfectionism culture and impossible beauty standards on women, and to the perpetuating economic inequality between the genders. This research underscores the transformative power of feminism in challenging deeply entrenched patriarchal systems, where social media has emerged as a critical force in this transformation, enabling global feminist solidarity by connecting individuals across continents, cultures, and backgrounds who share the same oppressor.
Through platforms like Tiktok and other forums, the movement gained international attention and amplified the voices of South Korean activists and, more recently, of American women — who are seeking solidarity and liberation amidst fears of eroding rights from the gender-based oppression, that they fear will be aggravated with the reelection of Donald Trump. Figures such as Alexa Vargas and Abby K. exemplify how women in the U.S. have embraced the movement, finding empowerment in its principles and solidarity in shared experiences. Meanwhile, South Korean activists like Mingyeong Lee, who have long fought for gender equality, perceive this newfound international interest as a demonstration of mutual recognition of the systemic issues affecting women globally. This growing feminist dialogue between the U.S. and Korea highlights the power of social media to bridge national boundaries and foster transnational movements for women's rights.
Emerging from resistance to South Korea's entrenched patriarchy and catalyzed by events such as the Gangnam Station femicide, the 4B movement has saved thousands of women, helping them articulate and reject a societal void many had long struggled to name. The 4B is extremely complex and nuanced, it addresses span hypersexualized beauty standards, to gender role compliance, to revenge porn, and femicide. The movement empowers women to redefine their lives by rejecting traditional gender roles, marriage, and relationships with men, fostering a culture of critical thinking, questioning patriarchal norms, and reimagining personal freedom. For many participants, 4B represents an escape to a safe and democratic space with like-minded women, whether as friends or romantic partners, where they can prioritize themselves and their ambitions free from societal pressures related to fertility, beauty, career, and personal autonomy. The freedom from having an “expiration date” on their faces or a “ticking timebomb” in their bodies. This movement has offered not only hope but a sense of purpose, demonstrating that feminist resistance in South Korea is multifaceted and deeply personal.
Despite these efforts, critical questions remain: Is complete rejection of men and traditional structures the only way to protect women and young girls? Can meaningful societal progress occur when interactions with men are characterized solely by exclusion and hostility? However, these concerns are then compounded by the backlash from men entrenched in institutionalized gender discrimination and normalized hate speech.
Another significant critique of the 4B movement is its exclusion of transgender individuals. By framing gender identity in narrow biological terms, the movement disregards the crucial feminist principle of intersectionality, which recognizes the diverse forms of discrimination faced by marginalized groups. This exclusion creates a system of solitude rather than solidarity, limiting the movement's potential as a comprehensive force for social change.
Looking ahead, the movement must confront the reality that patriarchy does not solely target women but oppresses all marginalized communities. If dismantling this system is the ultimate goal, inclusivity and intersectionality are essential. The feminist movement should evolve to embrace women who wish to marry, raise children, or maintain relationships with men without compromising their autonomy and dignity. Equality cannot be achieved by deepening divisions between genders but rather through fostering a world where all individuals are seen as human beings with full autonomy and individuality, untethered by rigid gender roles, through inclusivity and interconnection. By recognizing the interconnected issues of economic insecurity, gender dynamics, and family structures, we can pave the way for more inclusive, progressive solutions on both sides of the Pacific. Only through solidarity, integration, and dialogue can the feminist movement fully achieve its vision of a liberated and equitable future for all.
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