Caitlin Flanagan
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Caitlin Flanagan (born November 14, 1961) is an American
writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
and
social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...
. A contributor to ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' since February 2001, she was nominated for the
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool". It is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are ...
in 2019. Her 2004 piece for ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' was expanded into the 2006 book ''To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife''. Flanagan also authored the 2012 book ''Girl Land''.


Early life and education

Flanagan was born and raised in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
city of
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
. She is the daughter of Jean (Parker), a nurse, and writer Thomas Flanagan. In 1978, she was sexually assaulted by a high school classmate. She attempted suicide the following year. Her sister Ellen is married to novelist
Andrew Klavan Andrew Klavan (; born July 13, 1954) is an American writer of crime and suspense novels. Klavan has been nominated for the Edgar Award five times and has won twice. Klavan has also worked in film and as an essayist and video satirist. He is also ...
. Flanagan holds a B.A. and an M.A. (1989) in
art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
from the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
.


Career

Before becoming a writer, Flanagan was an English teacher and college counselor at
Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two predec ...
in
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
, a theme she later returned to in her articles about college admissions. Flanagan's writing and social criticism frequently explore the intersection of public and private, and seek to expose hypocrisies in social narratives of the powerful and the prominent. Although such critiques sometimes use traditionally conservative arguments, Flanagan has referred to herself as a Democrat and a liberal. ''
Bitch Bitch may refer to: * A female dog or other canine * Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female Bitch or bitches may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins * ''Bitc ...
'' magazine awarded Flanagan its "Douchebag of the Century" award for her criticism of feminism. Flanagan wrote an article in support of
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
's response to youth
climate activists Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...
, who were mostly from a
350.org 350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Its stated goal is to end the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement. The 350 in the name stands fo ...
chapter, in which she placed the
Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...
in "the worlds of magic and make-believe," which was met with objections from the activists and others. She has written about contradictory currents in the lives of American women, including herself, who discovered later in life a joy in motherhood and social value in domesticity that ran counter to the view of women's domestic lives as oppressive. Some of her essays underscore the emotional rewards and social value of a
housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...
's role. Consequently, she has been criticized, for instance by
Joan Walsh Joan Maureen Walsh (born September 18, 1958) is a liberal American political pundit and journalist. Walsh is national affairs correspondent for ''The Nation,'' and was previously an on-air political analyst at CNN and MSNBC. She produced the 202 ...
, for misrepresenting her life choices and then condemning other women for not choosing a lifestyle Flanagan herself did not choose either. In her article "How Serfdom Saved the Women's Movement", Flanagan challenged the narrative of economic and social liberation of women credited to feminism by accusing middle-class women of succeeding at the expense of foreign nannies and illegal workers who replaced them in mothering roles. She argued that these women, while claiming to be virtuous and concerned for others, simultaneously robbed these workers by not paying Social Security taxes. Flanagan has appeared as a guest on ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'' and ''
Real Time with Bill Maher ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy Central and later on ABC, ''Real Ti ...
''. Flanagan's book ''To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife'' was published by
Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily D ...
in 2006. The book was developed from a ''New Yorker'' essay by the same title, as well as other magazine pieces by Flanagan and new writing. In 2012, she published a book about teenage girls, ''Girl Land''. Flanagan was a finalist for the 2019
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for Commentary) for several articles that year, including two pieces about
Babe.net ''The Tab'' is a tabloid-style youth news site, published by Tab Media Ltd. It was launched at the University of Cambridge and has since expanded to over 80 universities in the United Kingdom and United States. The name originates from both an ...
's story about an anonymous woman's allegation that comedian and actor
Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Master ...
's behavior during a date rose to the level of sexual assault. Flanagan was one of several commentators who argued that the woman who wrote the piece ignored her own agency, not considering her own ability to speak up and leave the situation.


Personal life

Flanagan previously lived in Los Angeles. She had twin sons, Patrick and Conor, in 1998. In 2003, when her children were in preschool, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, which later metastasized to other parts of her body.


Bibliography


Books

* *


Selected articles

* * * * Online version is titled "The comic-strip heroine I'll never forget". * * * The Atlantic ; June 2022; Chasing Joan Didion; Visiting the Writer's California homes, from Berkeley to Malibu. What was I looking for?


References


External links


Personal website

''The Atlantic'' articles

''The New Yorker'' articles


by Jen Lawrence at LiteraryMama.com
Flanaganappearances
on
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...

Profile
elle.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Caitlin 1961 births American women journalists The Atlantic (magazine) people Female critics of feminism Living people University of Virginia alumni Social critics The New Yorker staff writers Writers from Berkeley, California Journalists from California 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists