By Ajax the Great (Pete Jackson)
(Originally posted on my "Vive La Difference!" blog)
Looks like the famous 4B Movement is spreading beyond South Korea to the USA now in the wake of Trump winning the presidential election. Basically, it is like a Lysistrata-style strike by Women, but broader, to essentially "boycott men" completely. To quote the NPR article:
Following President-elect Trump’s victory — which was fueled by male voters and to many looked like a referendum on reproductive rights — some young American women are talking about boycotting men.
The idea comes from the South Korean movement known as 4B, or the 4 No’s (bi means “not” in Korean). It calls for the refusal of dating men (biyeonae), sexual relationships with men (bisekseu), heterosexual marriage (bihon) and childbirth (bichulsan).
It is apparently trending quite a bit in recent days on social media, and even in mainstream legacy media. Whether the movement is limited to a sliver of the Female population, or ultimately ends up achieving critical mass, is not yet clear, but the message sure is clear as day. Men really need to answer the "clue phone", as it is ringing louder than ever now.
The fact that so many men were willing to throw Women under the bus during this election, because reasons, is more than justification enough for Women to go on strike. To call such an act of betrayal "the straw that broke the camel's back" is truly the understatement of the century!
I have often half-joked that Women could take over the world in a matter of weeks if not sooner, if they all (or enough of them) did something like this at the same time. After all, in economic terms, men's demand for sex in particular, let alone everything else, is very "inelastic", at least in the short run, while Women's demand for sex is far more "elastic". Despite Women actually having a higher sex drive overall than men (a fact that was famously well-known by everyone long before the Victorians attempted to erase and invert it), for men it is still more urgent and linear. Thus, men will hand over the "keys to the kingdom" in order to desperately end the strike.
(Men's demand for marriage is similarly "inelastic" as well, but with the important caveat that that is true only if it is rigged in their favor. It is at base a patriarchal institution, after all. The moment it ceases to be rigged in their favor, their demand for marriage then becomes much more "elastic".)
Whether one sees it as a sprint or a marathon (and a case can be made for both, in fact), the more Women lean heavily into it at the beginning, the more effective it will be. Men can thus be "broken like wild horses" fairly quickly (if temporarily), at least long enough for Women's demands to be met.
It's too soon to tell at this point, but this development may very well be a silver lining of the otherwise horrible national (and global) calamity of Trump winning, namely, that we become that much closer to Matriarchy if this movement gains enough traction, God willing. Only time will tell.
P.S. All the fellas (including myself) who are at least tempted to reflexively say some flavor of, "Don't blame me, I voted for Kamala!" (which I of course did) in response to this, are really missing the point, and that is just as tone-deaf and chutzpah as saying "Not ALL men!" as a typical canned response to Women's concerns about male violence against Women. Expecting kudos for merely meeting the bare minimum standards of a decent human being truly reeks of privilege.
To the reader: "elasticity" in economic means "the responsiveness of a quantity to a change in a variable", usually in terms of cost. "Price elasticity of demand" refers to the change in quantity of a good or service demanded in response to a change in price. "Inelastic" goods/services are relatively insensitive to changes in price, while "elastic" goods/services are more sensitive to changes in price. In this case, "price" refers to the "full cost", that is, any relative difficulty obtaining the thing in question.
ReplyDeleteNow you have really outdone yourself Ajax, this is a masterpiece. One to read over & over, imbibe, digest, fully understand, think & think again about. You say so many things in this article I hardly know where to start to comment. Frankly, I think I need to read it two more times to think & make clear in my mind. I get the basic, but those DETAILS! ...About marriage. You are right - it is RIGGED. Once a female is MARRIED she is nolonger wiing & able to have FEMALE FRIENDS. I know as I have tried - it's IMPOSSIBLE. How do men work that? During childood, teenage years & college if any, women are sisters. But after marriage, their friendships with other women are FINISHED. Not so with men. How is that RIGGED for men, how do they accomplish this? They have been building the infrastructure of Patriarchy solong, it's hard to go backward in the rabbit hole & find how they accomplished certain things, this being one of them. How they end female to female relationships after marriage. And WHY the fuck haven' women rebelled or fought back until now? And this only a TINIEST bit. What you said re this being the FINAL STRAW & the Korean movement might well be the lynchpin for a new upheavel from women. It does take that last straw to break one's back. If this is it, then it might do good. I hope. Great article & I shall read it again & definitely this goes into a book down the line....My NEW RELIGION is a boycott of men to some degree - to a large degree really. Women living alone & or with their chidren, men included with strict restractions, etc. But I have not had time to promote it yet or do much with it except my limited internet media. So we each do our best, the best we can. Your part is this - explaining.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Rasa. Very well-said 😊
DeleteForgot to say, men wil NEVER give up their privileges & domination WILLINGLY. This is an example. Only when it is TAKEN by FORCE or situation will they give it up - when they HAVE TO. And so it'll take a great deal of work & aggression on the part of women to accomplish domination - the privileged never give up voluntarily - look at royalty, the rich & super rich. When have they ever given up their wealth, status, privileges & money voluntariy, because of righteousness? They have to have their heads cut off like Marie Antoinette or be assassinated ike the Romanoffs.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately very true, Rasa. Very well-said 😊
DeleteI will also note that, since I have an obvious conflict of interest here, being a man, I will not judge anyone for their degree of participation or lack thereof in such a movement whatsoever. It should be entirely up to the individual to decide whether, and to what degree, they will participate. That said, I wish any participants the very best of luck.
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