Blog: The Iowa That Never Was

“So, do you live on a farm?”

How many times have you been asked about your lifestyle because you live in Kansas? Living in Prairie Village doesn’t give you a free pass. Kansas is Kansas to an outsider. To the average “Perfect Village” citizen we have the perks of access to big-city life and access to great educational opportunities.

Iowa is the state where many people think Americans revert back to where America used to be: a state with a traditional lifestyle, a traditional working environment, a traditional place to be educated. Iowa is the state where most Americans assume the citizens are farmers. In actuality, Iowa is a state that has a larger urban than rural population and a state that made same-sex marriage legal before almost any other state.

Iowa has one of the lowest unemployment rates, one of the lowest crime rates and one of the best public education systems in the country. How do those stereotypes fit?

I am not saying that Iowa plays a significant role politically. Thousands of Americans are upset that Iowa gets the first say in the primary season, and that may be a justified statement. Iowa doesn’t represent the average American, they say. Iowa is not a political house, they remark.

The thing I am tired of hearing about is how Iowa goes to Republicans time and time again. Iowa has gone to the Democrats in five out of the last six elections. I am tired of hearing that every Iowan detests same-sex marriage and want to revert back to the way things were run when Reagan was in office.

Iowa is Iowa, whether we choose to realize that the picture isn’t what we make it out to be or not.