Social Media Usage and Mental Health of Teenagers: Exploring the Feminist Undertone

Against the background of the contention that social media use could have negative effect and impact on the mental health of users, arising from addictive and prolonged usage, this paper focuses on the reported heightened negative impact experienced by teenage girls as compared to teenage boys. It explores the possible contribution of the patriarchal socialisation of girls into acceptance of objectification and self objectification, making them more susceptible to interest in body presentation and beauty, and this likely opening them up to more engagement than boys on such issues on social media. The implication, as the paper argues, is the need to factor in the continuing importance of patriarchy and its manifestation of objectification and self objectification in the lives of women and girls as critical to understanding, explaining and addressing the heightened negative impact of social media use on the mental health of girls vis-a-vis boys.