The 6B4T movement is an online radical feminist movement that spread from South Korea whose members organize in opposition to sexism and patriarchal structures. [1] A notable aspect of the 6B4T movement is its members' commitment to never marry men, or have heterosexual sexual relations, nor bear children. [2]
Beginning in 2019, the movement grew out of the South Korean 4B movement, whose members also renounce sex, child-rearing, dating, and marriage with men. [3] [4] [5] [6] In Korean-language abbreviation, [7] "6B" refers to the same four commandments of the 4B movement as well as not buying products viewed as sexist (Korean : 비소비; Hanja : 非消費; RR : bisobi) and supporting others in the movement (비돕비;非돕非;bidopbi), while "4T" refers to rejecting strict beauty standards (탈코르셋;脫corset;talkoreuset), hypersexual depictions of women in Japanese otaku culture (탈오타쿠;脫otaku;tarotaku), religion (탈종교;脫宗敎;taljonggyo), and idol culture (탈아이돌;脫idol;taraidol). [7] [5] [6] [8] [9]
The 6B4T movement spread to young female users of the Chinese social network Douban and became popular among well-educated women. [10] [8] [9] It was a fringe element in the Chinese feminist movement, but it gained additional unintended attention in 2021 for the fact that it caught the attention of Chinese government censors. [10] [5] [11] In April of that year, several Douban groups associated with the movement were shut down and the phrase "6B4T" was banned from the platform. [10] [5] [6] [12]