Lifestyle

‘The South Korean Women Imagining a World Without Men,’

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— Jen Ortiz, deputy editor, the Cut

What if, instead of fighting the patriarchy, we … gave up on it? For the women of “4B,” a small but growing movement in South Korea, doing just that seems like the only path forward. “It is both an ideological stance and a lifestyle,” explains writer Anna Louie Sussman, who traveled to the country and spoke with more than a dozen 4B adherents. The name comes from four Korean words that begin with bi- (“no”): “The first no, bihon, is the refusal of heterosexual marriage. Bichulsan is the refusal of childbirth, biyeonae is saying no to dating, and bisekseu is the rejection of heterosexual sexual relationships.” While it’s too early to know what sort of lasting effects 4B might have on South Korean society, as Anna writes, “its ideas and actions have already affected the country’s online discourse, its politics, and most of all, individual women’s lives.”
A World Without Men The women of South Korea’s 4B movement aren’t fighting the patriarchy — they’re leaving it behind entirely.
Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Getty
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Categories: Lifestyle, Men and Women

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