Women are leaving men behind. Literally. From the 20th century and onwards, there have waves of feminist movements that have helped propel women forward in society.
These movements fought for women to be able to vote, to curb sexual harassment and assault, to get women into the workforce and earn their own income independent of men.
Undoubtedly, these are great gains for the feminism cause. However, as patriarchy is still entrenched in every facet of life.
The incomprehensibly high statistics of gender-based violence and rape in South Africa point to this.
According to Police Minister Bheki Cele’s second-quarter crime figures for 2023/2024, the country recorded 10,516 rapes, 1,514 attempted murders, and 14,401 assaults on female victims in July, August, and September. During the same period, 881 women were murdered.
“The scourge of violence against women and children in South Africa must be confronted head on equally by law enforcement, government and society,” said Cele.
US feminist author bell hooks wrote in Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, “For too long the term domestic violence has been used as a ‘soft’ term which suggests it emerges in an intimate context that is private and somehow less threatening, less brutal, than the violence that takes place outside the home. This is not so, since more women are beaten and murdered in the home than on the outside.”
In addition to the brutality, the gender pay gap and the rigid gender roles that dictate that mothers should work outside the home and come back home to cook, clean and tend to children while their spouses or partners sit back, decompress and watch TV or any other leisurely exercise are a huge topic
Despite the progress of women’s movements, some feel that they remain second-class citizens and oppressed.
This is why the 4B movement came into the picture.
Originating in South Korea, 4B stands for four Korean terms that begin with bi-, or ‘no’: The first no, bihon, is a rejection of heterosexual marriage. Bichulsan is the refusal to give birth, biyeonae is the unwillingness to date, and bisekseu is the rejection of heterosexual sexual interactions.
The Asian country has the lowest birthrate in the world at just 0.72%. Because of this, the movement ballooned to all over the world. Social media has become the meeting place for those who have adopted this sort of lifestyle.
The 4B movement has even reached South Africa.
I’m interested in seeing how the South African women are going to take the 4b movement.
For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a feminist movement where women say no to; having sex with men, dating men, marrying men and having kids with men.
These are other posts shared on X (Twitter) on the matter:
– I want a 4B movement in South Africa. Tbh (to be honest), on this whole continent.
– I need the 4B movement to be a thing in South Africa y’all don’t deserve wives and children.
“He hates you. They hate us. Men do not like us. Be alone. That is really the only other option. Just be alone, look in the mirror, sit with yourself, cry, have an ego death (the removal of one’s perception of oneself as an entity separate from one's social or physical environment), and get really hot, get a bunch of hobbies and become extremely successful,” one woman said on TikTok.
However, South Korean say there is a small percentage of women who subscribe to 4B. Anna Lee, rebutted the notion that all South Korean are part of the movement.
“Truthfully, I had never heard of this term before, and neither had any of my friends or family. There are plenty of people currently doing no marriage and no kids, however this is not connected to the 4B movement,” she said.
There has been a push back against the ideology, with some netizens (internet users) saying the movement will sow a greater divide between men and women.
Those who are part of 4B have also been labelled as being misandrists (those who hate, have contempt for, or prejudice against men or boys).
What do you think of the 4B movement? Should women really leave men behind?
IOL News