❤️🙅‍♀️ Why some women are swearing off men

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

🏒 And your 2025 Beanpot champs are … the BU Terriers! Thanks to an absolutely clutch performance by freshman Cole Hutson, BU upset No. 1 ranked BC, 4-1, and brought home the trophy for the first time since 2022. Go Terriers! 

🥳 And happy, happy birthday to B-Sider Savannah McLean! If being a B-Side reader were the Beanpot, you’d be up 10,000-1. 

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Brace for a slippery commute

• The flu goes for a two-peat

• A ruff election in Dot

Up first…

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

What’s behind the 4B movement?

This Valentine’s Day, some women are swearing off … men. Welcome to the world of 4B.

🙅‍♀️ 4B is a South Korean movement that’s picked up steam in the U.S. Here’s the deal: In 4B, women don’t marry, date, or have sex or children with men as a form of protest. By most accounts, its size and scope in South Korea was relatively small. But after President Trump’s re-election in November, Google searches for the term received a huge bump in the U.S. It also exploded on TikTok, spurring pretty much every major media outlet to write about it.

😡 The election left a lot of women feeling “like they’re under attack,” according to Suzanna Danuta Walters, director of Northeastern’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. That’s exactly how 29-year-old Brooke Foster felt after seeing millions of men vote for Trump, despite his part in rolling back reproductive rights. Just as gut-wrenching: The way his victory inspired posts like “your body, my choice.” “That was terrifying,” Foster said. “As a woman, one of your worst nightmares is the idea that someone would take advantage of you like that.” She now chronicles her own 4B journey on TikTok.

♥️ Using sex and relationships as a form of protest isn’t new. In fact, women have literally done it for centuries. Historically, women have been socialized to ask for permission or put themselves “second or third,” according to Tammy R. Vigil, a BU professor of media science. This can make it tough to find a form of protest that feels both comfortable and empowering. 4B is a way to subvert society’s expectations and use your bodily autonomy without bringing other people or events into the equation.

🙋‍♀️ At the end of the day, it isn’t really about men. The biggest lesson Foster has taken away from her time doing 4B has more to do with herself. “In a society like ours … you're programmed to check on the men in your life and to be helpful to them,” she said. In cutting men out for a while, she’s found the ability to “re-center” her life around herself and her daughter. And, ironically, that’s led to her building a strong online community of men (and women) who empathize with her cause. “I was supposed to be in my man-hating era, but I don't hate them, actually,” she said.

QUICK QUESTION!

🙅‍♀️ What do you think about the 4B movement? 

TOGETHER WITH THE BOSTON OUTDOOR EXPO AND THE BOSTON RUN SHOW

Outdoor pickleball season is SO back 

🏞️👟 Okay, maybe not quite yet — but The Boston Outdoor Expo and The Boston Run Show are here to help you gear up for when it is. On March 1-2, the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center transforms into an outdoor lover’s dream, with 200+ top brands (think Patagonia, PUMA, and Salomon), jaw-dropping deals (including up to 60% off at Colorado Ski Shop), inspiring speakers like Conrad Anker, and epic activities, including a climbing wall, pickleball, Hyrox fitness, ice plunges, and more. Plus, tickets are FREE until Feb. 16 — so snag yours before it’s too late! 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

❄️ Brace for a slippery commute tomorrow morning. Our hyperactive weather pattern is back at it again with another storm Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This time, we can expect around an inch of snow here in Boston, plus some sleet and freezing rain. But the main thing to worry about is ice. The storm is passing through overnight in below-freezing temps, which will increase before sunrise, creating the perfect conditions for an icy commute Thursday morning. So be careful out there! Keep up with the latest here.

❤️ No S/O to love this Valentine’s Day? How about loving … your block? We’ll explain: Every spring, the city holds “Love Your Block” spring cleanup events. Basically, you apply to be a host or volunteer, and the city assigns you to a specific site or task (think: street cleanups, park revitalization, or planting flowers) to beautify your neighborhood. They provide all the tools and materials, so you just need to show up and be ready to clean. This year’s events will take place on April 4, 5 and 12.

🏘️ Cambridge just overhauled its zoning rules. On Monday, its City Council passed a massive measure meant to help the city speedrun the construction of more affordable housing. Among the changes: eliminating single-family zoning (meaning, there’s nowhere in the city where only single-family homes can be built) and allowing any building to be redeveloped into a four-story apartment building without a special permit. The move puts Cambridge at the forefront of Mass.’ push to tackle our housing crisis and adopt YIMBY policies. That said, some residents think it's too much, too fast. 

🤒 The flu is going for a two-peat in Mass. The state is seeing a rare “second surge” of the illness right now, with folks reporting higher rates of symptoms than any other peak since pre-COVID. Think: 10.5% of patients at Mass. healthcare providers are reporting flu-like symptoms, compared with just 5.9% during our “peak” in December and early January. As for why this is happening, medical experts aren’t quite sure. But the good news: Thanks to a little thing called “viral interference,” so long as flu numbers are up, other respiratory viruses are staying down.

GIVEAWAY

Together with Candlelight Concerts

Enter to win two tickets to any Candlelight® concert in Boston valid until March 31, 2025. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Feb. 13. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

A ruff election in Dorchester

Dorchester’s annual honorary mayoral election has seen a lot of candidates … but only one canine-date. For the first time ever, a dog is running for the honorary post of Dorchester’s “mayor,” a position Dot residents can win by raising the most money for the Dorchester Day Parade. 

Meet Walter, a 10-year-old golden retriever who “live[s] and breathe[s] everything Dorchester,” according to his mom, Jenna Marie Taylor. Last week, Taylor launched his candidacy after being inspired by the Seaport’s dog election, and was met with a huge, positive response. 

Walter has some stiff (human) competition, though. Three other candidates have already announced their own runs. You can read about all of them here, and donate to Walter’s cause here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🐶 Thanks for reading! The more dog mayors the merrier, as far as we’re concerned. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, The Boston Outdoor Expo and The Boston Run Show, for supporting local journalism and helping us gear up for epic outdoor experiences. 

🍩 The results are in: 34% of B-Siders say that Matt Damon is their favorite DunKing. But most of the write-ins we got were about Ben Affleck, including this one: “His defeated aura speaks to me.”

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