Feminist Mormon Housewives was founded by Lisa Butterworth, a wife, mother of three, active member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church),
Sunday School teacher, and
Democrat living in
Boise, Idaho, along with four of Butterworth's friends. During the
2004 American presidential election, Butterworth felt she couldn't discuss her liberal, feminist politics in her local LDS social circle. She found online discussions by critics of the LDS Church, but disliked their angry tone. When she stumbled up on an article on liberal Mormons at the Times & Seasons blog, she found that civility and openness could be maintained. This inspired Butterworth to contribute to the growing Mormon blogging community, called the
Bloggernacle, by creating Feminist Mormon Housewives, with the tagline "Angry Activists with diapers to change" (this was later changed to "A safe place to be feminist and faithful"). fMh provided a place to focus on women's issues, such as abortion, education,
polygamy, parenting, and
Mother in Heaven. The blog's atypical premise drew attention from others in the Bloggernacle, then throughout the
mainstream media. The site was originally operated at
Blogspot by Butterworth and her liberal niece-in-law Beth. The number of regular contributors eventually grew to a widespread group of women from
England,
New York City,
Australia,
Massachusetts,
Missouri,
Idaho, and
Utah. Some notable figures in Mormon studies have participated with fMh, including
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich,
Todd Compton,
Margaret Toscano, and influential players in the Bloggernacle. ==Prominence==