Journal Entries to Counteract the Dominant Male Narrative in Society

Entry Name:

Journal

Nobody kept a journal, and perhaps maybe five weeks of every-day doings might have been rather stale reading.

However some of the principal events are chronicled in a certain blue diary, the writer of which said every night “Oh I’m sleepy now, I’ll write it up tomorrow.”

But she didn’t “write it up tomorrow,” consequently much valuable information has been lost.

Saturday July 30th

Frank and Billy arrived during the morning and after an early dinner the whole party proceeded to Trebarfoot, mostly by wagonette but some by the new railway to Tresner. The latter party walked on and met the wagonette partly by Canworthy Water, where some of them were picked up and the rest walked on.

Sunday August 4th

Rev. G.L. Allen preached in the evening at Bangers.

Monday August 15th

Miss P, Lisa, and Gerrie came from Bude, also Clifford who had come down from London on the Saturday. The party was immediately demoralized and all went out smoking after supper.

Sunday August 21st

Full choral service in the panelled room. Miss P. presided at the harmonious, Miss D. Allen assisted on her violin and “Sid” went to sleep on “Da’s” shoulder

Tuesday August 23rd

John Stooper and Charlie Fentimau arrived. Charlie went back [the] next-day.

Friday August 26th

Frank and Billy went back to the North and John Hooper went back to Lancaster. The rest of the party went-blackberrying “to drive dull care away” and between three and four quarts.

Photo of diary entry by Olive Allen Biller. (Photo taken by Jessica Matthews).

In this journal entry, by Olive Allen Biller, she describes the daily chronicles of her life over the span of a month. Allen Biller was a young girl at this time (around 11 years old) and was able to record her own stories from her point of view to remember her life. The entry above showcases different events during the summer and mentions the names of Allen Biller's friends and family. Throughout this short journal entry we can see that Allen Biller is not recording her activities every single day, however, Allen Biller does stay consistent in journalling moments she believes are important. In this passage, Allen Biller predominantly writes about moments that took place during the day, however in her first entry, she writes about her feelings towards a topic.

Allen Biller began journaling during her summer trips to her family’s vacation home in Trebarfoot. Allen Biller not only documented events, she wrote short stories and poems, drew photos, recorded guestbooks, menus, and kept family portraits in her journals.

Her journals were a way to express her feelings as a woman growing up in the 19th century and then as a single mom in the 20th century. At this time in history, the patriarchy was in full swing; gender roles were fully solidified in society. Men were considered to be the leader, protector, and voice of the household while women were supposed to follow their husband's or father's rules. In this time period, men's opinions were more respected than women's, therefore men's narratives dominated society. A lot of our history is only known from the perspective of men as they were considered the powerful gender. Allen Biller using her own unique voice to record a part of history is important as she was counteracting the male dominant voice in society. She was writing down what she believed was important and she was creating pieces of work that expressed her interests.

Recording her life was not a difficult task for Allen Biller as she was passionate about journaling. She was a firm believer that journalling was important; in her entry "Journal", she wrote: “But she didn’t ‘write it up tomorrow,’ consequently much valuable information has been lost” (Vol. 1). This quote illustrates how she cares about writing because she does not want to forget about different moments in her life.

In the mid-to-late 1800s, only 50% of women were literate so Allen Biller’s writings, display that she was able to communicate and progress her writing skills while many other women were not given the same opportunities. She utilized her abilities to the fullest by constantly improving her writing and artistic talents. This is significant because little of the female population was able to write, yet Allen Biller was still able to practice and fine tune her skills.

Allen Biller was able to practice her writings in various forms. As she used different mediums to express her feelings she was about to develop a multitude of skills. I chose to showcase this passage because of the medium she used was a regular journal entry. This entry was a simple and basic way for her to express her daily activities. In this entry, Allen Biller is documenting events many would consider mundane, however, these moments were important to her so they illustrate her perspective. While she is just reporting the major events of the day, her passage is still significant because she is challenging the dominant narrative of the time. This passage illustrates that just the mere act of journaling was crucial to counterbalance the male dominant voice in society.

Counteracting the male dominant voice in society is something women have felt strongly about for a long time. Rodney G.S.Carter writes, “Women, one of the groups who has been traditionally and consistently marginalized, have in recent history reacted against the patriarchy” (227). Women and their opinions have been consistently ignored for centuries and their work is sometimes not found in archives. Carter describes that many feminists regard the archives as, “institutions that have traditionally favoured textual documents of government, industry, the Church, and other male-controlled enterprises to the denigration of all other records” (227). Carter demonstrates that women are often silenced throughout their lives and then continue to be ignored in public memory by exclusion from the archives.

While Carter highlights these knowledge gaps, Allen Biller’s works are exceptions to this stance as many of her creations are found in the archives at the University of British Columbia. Allen Biller was not a predominant figure in society during her time and was mostly known for a her children's books and artwork. However, through preserving her works, other people can learn about how life as a young girl growing up in England, immigrating to Canada, living on Vancouver Island, and becoming a mother. Her unique and artistic journals are a reflection of her creativity and skills. As she grew up in a world where the male voice was so dominant in society, journaling was a way for her to express herself and eventually as a way for her legacy to live on.

Disclaimer: All images were taken by Jessica Matthews at Rare Books and Special Collections, located at the University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus.

Works Cited

Biller, Olive Allen. Journal Volume 1. Journals. 1890-1894. Box 1. Olive Allen Biller fonds. University of British Columbia Rare Books and Special Collections, Vancouver, Canada.

Grove, Jaleen. “ The Life and Work of Olive Allen Biller.” Jaleen Grove - Research on Art and Illustration, www.groveartworks.com/research/research2.htm. Accessed January 31, 2018.

“Literacy.” Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org/literacy. Accessed February 4, 2018.