Boredom is Simply an Opinion

Is boredom truly a characteristic that coincides with a certain gender?

"The Idler has no rivals or enemies." (Johnson 2)

This quote from Samuel Johnson's The Idler really struck me. It seems to portray boredom as a neutral position that doesn't have any opinions or feelings. There is nothing to provoke and nothing to question when stuck in a state of boredom. Because there is no motivation to be doing anything, the individual is stuck in a state of leisure and at that time would not be causing any controversy or denying any other opinions. Therefore, due to the fact that they do not have opinions, they could not truly make allies with individuals based upon common interests or opinions and could definitely not offend anyone with their outward opinions.

It is interesting though, that within Spack's Boredom chapter, there is information based upon ideals of gender discrimination within boredom. "In the eighteenth century, women attributed it to men, in the nineteenth, men attributed it to women." (Spack X) The fact that there was gender differentiation within boredom boggles my mind. It is interesting because boredom doesn't necessarily mean lazy. It could mean leisurely, unmotivated or just uninterested. I don't believe that it has to take on a negative connotation because one gender is better than the other at a certain time.

Because of Johnson's opinions based upon boredom in saying that because the Idler doesn't have enemies, those individuals really don't challenge anything. It could mean that they are content and do not want to challenge the ideas that are prominent within society at that time. Because this passivity is prominent, it makes that certain gender appear to be lazy. Because history reports that men rested upon their laurels during the seventeenth century and then women began to take on more household roles during the eighteenth century, these ideas of changes within interest provided people with the opportunity to generalize boredom into one gender category. I believe that this is unfair. No matter what occurs in life, there are always going to be times of boredom and no motivation, but there are also times of inspiration and genius that can provoke interest. Therefore, I do not believe that this category can be directed towards one gender as a whole. Based upon certain individuals' interests, boredom can occur at any time and in any place.