Donald Trump’s election win was viewed as a devastating loss by a large portion of women across the US.

For these women, battle plans to survive the next few years range from hoarding contraceptives to abstaining from intimate relations with men altogether.

In less than a week since Trump won a second presidential term, women who opposed the outcome have been confronted with misogynistic slogans such as ‘Your body, my choice’ in person and across social media.

With fears of further repeals of reproductive rights as seen during Trump’s previous presidency, many women immediately booked appointments to insert long-term contraceptive devices, and advised others to stock up on contraceptive pills and condoms as well as to stop sharing menstruation information with period-tracking apps.

‘Terrifying time’

There have also been some calls to replicate South Korea’s ‘4B movement’, which completely rejects heterosexual relationships and childbirth.

The reaction might seem extreme to some, but it comes as misogyny has arguably become inescapable and normalised, Hannah Robertson, PhD candidate at Australian National University’s POLIS: The Centre for Social Policy Research told TND.

She said proactively stocking up on the morning-after pill or getting IUDs inserted were justified reactions to life under a patriarchy in general, but especially under a president “determined to further restrict women’s rights in this space”.

for american women:

IUDs: get inserted at Planned Parenthood – I paid with a card, or they do insurance too

Birth control pills: NuRx, or Prjkt Ruby, offer easy online prescriptions and you can buy months of supply

Plan B: is good for 4 years!! Buy some and keep it on hand 🩷

— 🍊 tk tweets 📖 (@tk_sunrise) November 6, 2024

“It is a terrifying time to be a woman in the world … mindful of the limits being placed on their sexual and reproductive health and rights,” she said.

“We’re seeing a really disturbing impact in the wake of Trump’s victory, which has emboldened men to come out of the woodwork and feel comfortable expressing these extremist views.

“Despite … myths that sexual assault accusations can ruin a man’s life, we’re actually seeing that can place a man in the highest office. What message is that sending both young men and women?”

Trump’s progressive lip service

During his recent election campaign, Trump stopped short of promising more restrictions on women’s reproductive rights, saying abortion was an issue for the states, not the federal government.

He even criticised some states’ laws as being too harsh.

But he also suggested introducing more regulations on birth control, and was responsible for installing three conservative Supreme Court justices during his previous term, which led to the removal of Americans’ constitutional right to abortion.

Monash University lecturer in humanities and social sciences Stephanie Wescott said Trump’s attempts to distance himself from restrictions on women’s reproductive freedoms was likely just campaign strategy given he previously stated women should be punished for getting abortions.

“I don’t think Trump actually cares about protecting women’s rights if he’s willing to let this conversation play in the public sphere,” she said.

“So I think there are two things for women to be concerned about very specifically.

“The first is the betrayal of people around them in voting for someone who holds them in contempt. And secondly, if someone who does treat women that way in public [gets elected], then what outcome will that have on public legislation around women?

“To say that women are overreacting … is a very classic response when women are rightfully outraged about an event or a particular outcome.

“That also speaks to the way that some men fail to understand the very real threat to women’s safety that they continually deal with in their everyday life.”

No men, no kids

The collective outrage from many women in the wake of Trump’s election win, and the avalanche of misogyny it reportedly generated, sparked calls to replicate South Korea’s feminist 4B movement.

The movement’s four principles (which in Korean are prefaced with ‘bi’, meaning ‘no’) are: No marriage, no childbirth, no dating and no sex.

It emerged in South Korea during the 2010s as a form of resistance from women dealing with economic disparity, housing instability, cultural pressures and digital sexual violence.

The movement has drawn backlash in its home country, which is already struggling with one of the lowest birth rates in the world.

Earlier this year, Seoul City councillor Kim Ki-duk even attempted to link a rise in male suicides to the increasingly “dominant” role of women in society making it harder for men to get jobs and to find women who wanted to marry them.

Wescott said the 4B movement was akin to a “workers strike”.

Ladies, we need to start considering the 4B movement like the women in South Korea and give America a severely sharp birth rate decline:

– no marriage
– no childbirth
– no dating men
– no sex with men

We can’t let these men have the last laugh… we need to bite back

— 🖤 (@lalisasaura) November 6, 2024

“[American supporters of the 4B movement are saying], ‘Well, if you’re willing to vote in this way against me and my rights, how can I possibly have a relationship with you or coexist?'” she said.

“There’s that emotional aspect to it as well, but I think the other is possibly collective resistance.

“A lot of women, they have to look at their lives and think, ‘Who is the greatest threat to me?’ … and certainly for women in domestic situations, that will be the man that they live with.”

She does not believe the 4B movement will become mainstream in the US, but said talk of it spoke to the current climate and how women felt the need to protect themselves.

Political and social movements can easily move from the US into countries like Australia.

This could arguably be seen in a recent attempt to repeal abortion rights in South Australia, calls to do the same in Queensland, the restriction of abortion service access in regional NSW, as well as the fatal Sydney shopping centre attack during which the perpetrator was suspected to have deliberately targeted women.

Wescott said recent events emphasised the importance of digital and political literacy.

“Having critical literacies and digital literacies to understand how you might be manipulated by what you’re seeing online, and whether that’s grounded in any reality that is really important,” she said.

“Women are always blamed for the … ways that men suffer, even if they aren’t directly related.”

“It’s really important to understand who you’re voting for and what their policies are … and whether you are voting in not just your interests, but the interests of people who have less power than you.”