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One year ago today, two friends and I joined forces to begin this blog. The idea of focusing on Iowa women and the politics that affect them was simple, but the implementation proved to be more of a challenge.
Not long after we started, one of the friends decided blogging -- or, more aptly, the possible target placed on her back for being a woman who blogs -- was not worth the enjoyment of the doing. Two of us have continued since then... although life, as it sometimes does, has gotten in the way of Paige contributing as much as she did in the beginning.
None of us dared to look a year to the future when the blog began. We lived day to day, week to week and did our best to savor every moment, every person we met along the way. To say that we -- all three of us -- were blessed by what we did would be a massive understatement. To be sure the nasty comments (the ones so off-topic and so offensive that they never see the light of public display) and equally nasty email messages have been trying and disheartening. They bothered us more before we began networking with other women bloggers throughout the nation and realized that they were receiving similar. We've begun to see them as badges of honor, as a sign that what we are saying and reporting on matters.
There was some consideration that we'd look back over the year of posts and pull the ones of various categories -- our picks, most viewed, most re-posted, most commented, etc. The consideration died when we discovered that, after the caucus blitz, we simply were too tired to be that ambitious.
Still, whether you are reading for the first time today or have been with us for the past year, we welcome you. Drop us a line and let us know what you think we should be covering now that the presidential hopefuls have moved on for a few months.
Comments (7)
Happy birthday, EE! Congrats on a year of great coverage of the presidential campaign, and keep up the good work - the Iowa blogosphere needs you!
~iPol: the Personal Pronoun, as applied to politics.
Posted by iPol | January 8, 2008 8:05 AM
Posted on January 8, 2008 08:05
I can't believe it has been a year - impossible. I remember when we sat at Mars in Des Moines and laughed at ourselves for thinking we could do it. What a great day and how I've been blessed to have the two of you in my life. The success is not for Dee or me, Lyn, it's all yours. Congratulations!
Posted by Paige | January 8, 2008 9:57 AM
Posted on January 8, 2008 09:57
Happy Birthday!
Posted by Lorna | January 8, 2008 11:52 AM
Posted on January 8, 2008 11:52
Congrats. EE has made the Iowa political blogosphere and interesting place. I hope you're around for many more birthdays.
Posted by Dave Mastio | January 8, 2008 1:54 PM
Posted on January 8, 2008 13:54
Happy birthday, Essential Estrogen! Can I now assume that since the pres candidates have all left to mark new territory that you'll get back to covering more women's issues?
Posted by Cathy | January 8, 2008 2:24 PM
Posted on January 8, 2008 14:24
Congrats on a year!
As for content: You appear to be doing a pretty good job of figuring that out yourself.
Posted by KL Snow | January 8, 2008 4:25 PM
Posted on January 8, 2008 16:25
Writing about women's issues in Iowa is fun, frustrating, and slowly rewarding. I launched Leading Voices: Iowa in October 2006. I have learned much that makes me understand just how much gender bias there is in Iowa. More importantly, I know how it is created. That means the roots of the problem can be attacked. What I found early on in writing the bi-weekly print publication is that the presidential contest was really a distraction.
I have read blogs across the nation and have worked with the Chrysalis Foundation's reincarnation of the Women's Alliance, which will be making its agenda public in a few weeks. Essential Estrogen has been part of the new women's movement that I am seeing take shape.
I invite everybody to visit my web site and to take a survey I created to help me judge what interest there would be in a permanent edition of Leading Voices: Iowa, the need for publications promoting women's issues, and the type of issues that would be of interest. It doesn't take long to take the survey and it would help women in Iowa. Here's the link: http://www.mrfcomm.com/id75.html. Thank you.
Thank you, Essential Estrogen, for all the links to the news blog I started writing for to increase the reach of information I've discovered writing Leading Voices, and for giving me information to include.
Posted by M.R. Field | January 9, 2008 7:31 AM
Posted on January 9, 2008 07:31