Iowa article from The Atlantic (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: living, farmer, residential)

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

I read the article and honestly didn't see anything offensive.

"Just about everyone wears a hat; farmer's tan is a condition every Iowan knows -- a blanched forehead above a leather-cured face..

Almost every Iowa house has a mudroom, so you don't track mud or pig **** into the kitchen or living room, even though the aroma of pig **** is absolutely venerated in Iowa

You'd never get a dog because you might just want to walk with the dog or to throw a ball for her to fetch. No, that's not a reason to own a dog in Iowa. You get a dog to track and bag animals that you want to stuff, mount, or eat"




I found his article to be greatly exaggerated. That alone offends me.

I understand it's an opinion piece, but the fact that he is a Professor of Journalism, I'd expect less half truths and generalizations.

[steel03]

It's not even opinion, it's just trash.
If somebody from the University of Washington wrote an article basically claiming that modern Washington State is full of hillbillies and mountain men, and that it's basically Seven Brides for Seven Brothers come to life, that would not be okay. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers isn't even set in Washington, it's set in Oregon, and obviously modern Washington is nothing like that. This is essentially what Bloom has done. It's 2% valid critical opinion and 98% outdated and totally inaccurate stereotypes. Many of the stereotypes he employs don't even have anything to do with Iowa. Combine demolition derbies? Really? If you type that into Google, the only states listed in the suggestions are Washington, Idaho, and Kansas. You must not have ever visited Iowa if you think Bloom's picture of it is "accurate" at ALL by any stretch of the imagination.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

I read the article and honestly didn't see anything offensive. You people are extracting statements and taking them too personally....

I haven't lived in Iowa for 40+ years and left it because I wasn't crazy about some aspects of it, so I didn't take anything personally. It's simply highly inaccurate from many angles. It's shameful that a journalism professor from a major university would write such tripe, seemingly only to get his name over an online magazine article.

But as to his main point, no one can argue that a person in Iowa represents the majority of Americans and thus deserves a greater voice in the political process....

So that was his main point? It sure took him a long time to arrive at it! I'm a journalist too. I give him an F for his grade. There are some sound reasons for Iowa's importance in the selection of national presidential candidates. I don't think he covered any of them. Nor will I. Not here.

I'm surprised that people have become so offended that the author now needs to hide his location....

Very unlikely. Sounds to me like another attempt at sensationalism. His house might get TP'd. Big whoop.

Can't a person be critical about a place in which they live? Isn't America a country where diverse viewpoints can be expressed and respectfully considered and discussed?

Being critical assumes some accuracy. He was downright dishonest.

My complaint isn't so much that he maligned the state of Iowa, but as a former journalist who hired a ton of new journalism grads from Iowa's universities, I've got to wonder what kind of professors they employ these days. The guy pretty much took a few facts and wrote a fictionalized story to get published. Or maybe he thought it was cute. Point is, it was written as a factual story but wasn't. And he should be fired.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by Dport7674

"Just about everyone wears a hat; farmer's tan is a condition every Iowan knows -- a blanched forehead above a leather-cured face..

Almost every Iowa house has a mudroom, so you don't track mud or pig **** into the kitchen or living room, even though the aroma of pig **** is absolutely venerated in Iowa

You'd never get a dog because you might just want to walk with the dog or to throw a ball for her to fetch. No, that's not a reason to own a dog in Iowa. You get a dog to track and bag animals that you want to stuff, mount, or eat"




I found his article to be greatly exaggerated. That alone offends me.

I understand it's an opinion piece, but the fact that he is a Professor of Journalism, I'd expect less half truths and generalizations.

It's very tame stuff, don't you think?

Anyway, don't worry, people outside of Iowa who may read the article know that it's a caricature. I think suggesting someone should get fired for this article, as did WyoNewk, is an overreaction. Humor is a better response. To answer steel03, it wouldn't cause a stir here in the least.

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

It's very tame stuff, don't you think?

Anyway, don't worry, people outside of Iowa who may read the article know that it's a caricature. I think suggesting someone should get fired for this article, as did WyoNewk, is an overreaction. Humor is a better response. To answer steel03, it wouldn't cause a stir here in the least.

Perhaps, but the author's attempt to be humorous kind of failed. An Art Buchwald he is not.

[steel03]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

To answer steel03, it wouldn't cause a stir here in the least.

Well, that's bull****. Don't buy that at all. Maybe it wouldn't affect YOU, but I guarantee it would cause the exact same reaction.

[Fleur66]

Originally Posted by scimitar12

Perhaps, but the author's attempt to be humorous kind of failed. An Art Buchwald he is not.

I'm not sure that everyone who reads the article thinks it is a caricature. I think the author totally meant to play up to the lack of knowledge of Iowa/or preconceived notions that some Atlantic readers might have. If it was a caricature...why use that as your supporting point as why the caucuses should not be held in Iowa.

Caricatures might have their place...but not necessarily in Bloom's article. What if the caucuses were held in New Jersey....would we expect the Atlantic to write an article making every New Jersey resident out to be a character from the Jersey Shore show, or Real Housewives of New Jersey?

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

It's very tame stuff, don't you think?

Anyway, don't worry, people outside of Iowa who may read the article know that it's a caricature. I think suggesting someone should get fired for this article, as did WyoNewk, is an overreaction. Humor is a better response. To answer steel03, it wouldn't cause a stir here in the least.

Midwestern states have this heightened sensitivity. There is a very frivolous mentality and the threshold for being offended seems abysmally low. Bloom's writing almost came across as satire in my opinion, and was written to laugh at the masses who would take it literally. Iowa City has a solid university and good healthcare.

[Fleur66]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Midwestern states have this heightened sensitivity. There is a very frivolous mentality and the threshold for being offended seems abysmally low. Bloom's writing almost came across as satire in my opinion, and was written to laugh at the masses who would take it literally. Iowa City has a solid university and good healthcare.

The journalism dept at the UI has already had some issues. Bloom doesn't seem like a very good ambassador for the program nor an expert at what he is to be teaching.

[WILWRadio]

Even though I am not from Iowa and have never lived there, I decided to read this article because I could very well move there in the not too distant future. I've visited Iowa numerous times over the last several years and about all that I can say is that this is nothing more than a hit piece from an ignorant jerk. Rural America has its share of problems but they do pale in comparison to the worst that most larger metropolitan areas have to offer. Having lived in several rural towns, suburban areas and cities I have found that you have good and bad communities of all sizes. To make a blanket statement that the entire state of Iowa stinks is just plain lunacy. As much as I dislike the Kansas City area (my current place of residence) I am not about to malign every area of Kansas and Missouri just because my time spent in the KC region has been less than acceptable in terms of experiencing relative few problems and a decent standard of living. People in Iowa are certainly more friendly and in local stores more service oriented than most of the people I've had to deal with in the Kansas City area.