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Hyemo as Emotional Politics in Digital Feminism: The Case of the 4B Movement in South Korea

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Abstract

This study examines the role of hyemo–a Korean emotion category–in shaping the discourse of the 4B movement in South Korea, a digital feminist initiative that rejects heteronormative practices, such as childbirth, dating, marriage, and sexual intercourse. Drawing on Nussbaum’s socio-cognitive approach to emotion and Foucault’s concept of neoliberal governmentality, the study employs social actor analysis of the online community, Yeosungsidae ‘Women’s Generation.’ The analysis reveals that hyemo encodes relational patterns of other-blaming and other-inferiorizing directed at Korean men and Korean women in heterosexual relationships. In the construction of these patterns, the neoliberal imperative of self-optimization serves as the barometer for morality and social superiority. By framing heterosexuality as a site for the contamination of inferiority and moral failure, the movement positions the rejection of heterosexual activity as a form of avoidance and retaliation. Ultimately, the study argues that hyemo–by encoding a set of patterns of relationship constructed through the logic of contamination–explains the intersection of seemingly conflicting characteristics within the 4B movement, namely feminist resistance against patriarchy and the emergence of exclusionary identity politics.

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Data Availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Notes

  1. Hannam is a shortened form of the Korean noun phrase, hanguk namja ‘Korean men.’

  2. Nammisae is a shortened form of the Korean noun phrase, namjae michin saekki ‘man-crazy bastards.’

  3. Feminine spaces refer to online forums characterized by a feminine ethos.

  4. Megalia and Womad are feminine online spaces. Megalia is considered as the origin of Korean digital feminism (YM Kim, 2021a, 2021b). Womad is a splinter group from Megalia due to differing views on allyship with gay men.

  5. Following Rich’s (1980/2003) notion of compulsory heterosexuality, patriarchy is defined here as a systemic structure of suppression of women. Within this framework, heterosexuality serves as an institutional device to maintain patriarchal power, while monogamy, as a social unit, is the site where heterosexual practices are enacted. Masculinity and femininity are understood as culturally scripted roles that sustain this order.

  6. Due to the nature of social media data, contextual information was often limited. In cases where interpretation was unclear, additional context was provided in [brackets] to aid comprehension.

  7. Ellipses in examples indicate omitted material for clarity and brevity.

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  1. Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

    Daeun Shin-Winans

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Shin-Winans, D. Hyemo as Emotional Politics in Digital Feminism: The Case of the 4B Movement in South Korea. Gend. Issues 43, 44 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-026-09431-w

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