US Elections: Liberal women going on sex strike over Trump win

Liberal women have sworn to go on sex strike over Donald Trump’s election win.

Mr Trump swept to victory in Tuesday’s presidential race that Democrats cast as a referendum on abortion rights and protections for women.

Some women are now threatening to punish men for voting for Trump, taking inspiration from a Korean feminist movement that vows to withhold sex from men in order to redefine the gender power balance.

Interest in the “4B movement” spiked since Kamala Harris’s defeat, with women sharing videos of themselves on social media pledging to commit to its four “no’s” — no sex, no dating or marriage and no having children with men — for the next four years.

In one video shared on TikTok, a young woman pledges to go celibate and encourages others to delete dating apps in order to “exercise sovereignty” over their bodies.

“As a woman, my bodily autonomy matters and this is my way to exercise sovereignty over that,” she says.

“So I highly encourage any other women who are single and still care about progressing women’s rights and still fighting for our bodily autonomy to do the same. Delete your dating apps.”

The woman also encourages others to seek out their female friends for comfort “if you need somebody to cuddle” and describes the 4B movement, which originated in South Korea, as a “point of inspiration”.

The US election revealed a gender divide in the electorate, with 55 per cent of men turning out for Mr Trump and 53 per cent of women voting for Ms Harris.

The president-elect touted his role in overturning Roe v Wade, a ruling that ended the nationwide right to abortion, throughout his election campaign and has been repeatedly accused of making offensive comments about women.

In response, some have blamed sexism for America’s decision to return Mr Trump to the White House.

“Men will always be against women,” read the caption in one TikTok video of a young woman crying in a car, encouraging women to join the 4B movement. “Women are just as capable to be presidents as a man.”

In another video, a woman says that “for the next four years I am going to abstain from sex with men”.

A separate video was captioned: “I think it’s time for American women to participate in our own 4B movement.”

Many of the videos addressed concerns over abortion, which was on the ballot in 10 states and was central to the Harris campaign.

“If men won’t respect our bodies, they don’t get access to our bodies,” one woman said. “All I have to say is, good luck getting laid. Especially in Florida, because me and my girlies are participating in the 4B movement.”

In a further video, one woman said: “I personally think if all these men are voting to take our rights away, they don’t deserve to touch a woman for the next four years. So, hope you thought that through you guys.”

An obscure, largely online branch of Korean feminism, the 4B Movement started in the mid 2010s, around the same time as the #MeToo movement in the US, in response to a wave of reports about violence towards women, and gender equality issues.

It stands for four Korean words that begin with “bi” or “no” in English. Bihon means no heterosexual marriage, bichulsan means no childbirth, biyeonae means no dating, and bisekseu signifies no heterosexual sexual relationships.

It is unclear how widespread the movement is in Korea, but it has met with a backlash from some disgruntled men, who have coined the term “kimchinyeo,” or “kimchee women,” to characterise college-educated women as “selfish, vain, and exploitative of their partners”.