After Trump’s Election, Women Are Swearing Off Sex With Men. This Has Been A Long Time Coming | Cécile Simmons

The rise of ‘separatist’ movements rests on the idea that when misogyny reigns supreme, a sex strike can be a feminist act

It only took a few hours after news of Donald Trump’s re-election for a sad spectacle to unfold online and beyond. The far-right slogan “Your body, my choice”, tweeted by white nationalist pundit and organiser Nick Fuentes, spread online and off, sparking waves of abuse against women. “You no longer have rights” was one of many similar messages addressed to women by extreme misogynist Andrew Tate, who is facing trial for rape and human trafficking charges in Romania. (He denies these charges.) Meanwhile, calls for the creation of “rape squads” emerged in far-right groups.

This onslaught of violently misogynistic speech made even clearer what had already been plain to see: that too many men do not view women as people with equal dignity and rights but as inferior creatures to be coerced. And this in turn has sparked another reaction. Since Trump’s election, 4B, a South Korean-founded separatist movement of women who swear off relationships with men, has been trending on social media.

Cécile Simmons is an investigative researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) focusing on dis/misinformation, online subcultures, women’s rights and wellness

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