Caitlin Flanagan

Who is Caitlin Flanagan?

Caitlin Flanagan is an American writer and social critic. She is a former staff writer for The New Yorker and a contributing editor and book reviewer at The Atlantic Monthly. Her book To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife was published by Little, Brown in April 2006.

Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Flanagan holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Virginia. Flanagan is a breast cancer survivor. Before she found success as a writer, Flanagan was an English teacher and college counselor at the elite, private Harvard-Westlake school in North Hollywood, California.

Some of her essays underscore the emotional rewards and social value of a traditional housewife's role, and she herself works from home, albeit with the help of a nanny and a housekeeper. Consequently Joan Walsh of Salon has criticized her for misrepresenting her life choices, and then condemning other women for not choosing the more traditional lifestyle.