And Here We Are

by Nicole and Mallory · July 2, 2013

toastcover2-02This started with a text message, for those of you who haven’t heard our foundational story. Nicole was perfectly happy at her old job, chugging along free of editorial responsibility and public heat, and then Mallory texted her and said:

“Why don’t you quit and we can start our own site?”

And Nicole said: “Ha ha ha ha ha ha :)”

And then she thought about it, and it occurred to her that having their very own site would be different. Harder, obviously, and you could no longer lie and tell people you were rejecting their piece because “my boss hates you/it, sorry,” but it would be theirs.

[ED. NOTE – This makes me sound like a homewrecker.]

[ED. NOTE – That’s your conscience speaking.]

So, what was The Toast to be? We immediately knew we wanted to pay our contributors something, because writing is work. We didn’t want a political blog, because other people do that much better than us, but we also wanted to have a STANCE.

We strive to be intersectionally feminist. We are pro-choice. We are pro-queer. We are pro-trans. We strive to feature writing from women of all ethnic backgrounds, to be a place where women who are not all white and under thirty and straight and living in New York City are also writing about “Battlestar Galactica” and “Sherlock” and which BB creams work for them, and their friendships and the time they broke their arm playing field hockey. We want to write about books, and think about books, and read books together and then talk about them. We want to hear about your books. We want to read fanfiction about Cold Comfort Farm (Indiebound) and also Love & Basketball.

We want to have arguments: we don’t want to run things we find deeply offensive, but sometimes we will want to run things that 40-60% of our readers will strongly disagree with, because when you just write for people who already love you, you never really swing for the fences.

We want to have a variety of women’s voices on this site. Our general demographic is the good old 18-35, like most ladyblogs, but did you know that many women continue to exist past the age of 65, and sometimes even longer? It’s true. We’re also hoping to coax the kids at Rookie into live-blogging “A League of Their Own” with us, because when we were sitting around Nicole’s house, brainstorming the site, “A League of Their Own” was the first thing we wanted to recreate in blog form. Right now, we feel a little like Marla’s dad watching her train pull out of the station, making his “swing away” gesture.

We’re interested in international voices as well. Flavia Dzodan will be our aggressive European correspondent, bringing focus to things we don’t cover very often in the feminist blogosphere: refugees, border disputes, trafficking. Violetta Bellocchio will be explaining the sexual politics of Italy for us, hopefully with charts for the easily lost. (Are you an international voice? Talk to us! There’s a ton of globe left even after you cross out Italy and the rest of Europe.)

We’re going to be talking with sex workers. Probably one of the last things the world needs is more civilians expressing their own opinions on sex work, so we won’t add to it (except for this part right here). We’d rather hear from the women who’ve done the work, and why (or if) they chose it, and how they feel their lives and livelihood could be more safer and more equitable. Our own bias is towards legalization and regulation, but we will also publish women with different viewpoints. The most important thing to remember is that a good feminist ally to sex workers brings popcorn, because everybody likes popcorn.

We’re going to talk about kids. Not a lot, probably, but some. Nicole has a kid (she’s pretty into it), but her kid content will be occasional, and only if she thinks it will be the best thing ever written about being a parent, or breastfeeding, or giving birth, or handing them your iPhone so you can try on a cardigan at The Gap and then getting distracted and accidentally shoplifting the cardigan and planning to return it any day now.

We’re going to talk about men. Nicole is married to one, and thinks they’re tops, Mallory is saving herself for Kristen Stewart, and gathering a misandrist spider army. We are happy to publish men’s work if it is excellent.

Something that’s a little different about us, and that may change based on advertising desires and popular acclaim: we’re going to start with just features. Four or five a day, some by us, some by our contributors. We’re not sure if that will work, honestly. Maybe you’ll want more short things to click on, more often. But we think there’s value in posting things that we’ve invested time and energy on, even if it comes at the expense of “You won’t believe this story about the thing you saw on Twitter and have already believed” link roundups.

That was a lot! You’re probably a little overwhelmed, and scared, and cold, and trembling. As you can see, we’ve dumped our entire first day of coverage on you at once, because we want our readers to know what they can expect from us as a site. We’re publishing all day on July 4th, because, well, we’re new, and we want you to have something to read. Also, Mallory burns easily, so she needs to stay indoors in the summertime.

This week, you can look forward to a narrative from a Canadian woman who had to make her case to two separate hospital psych panels in order to prove she needed a medical procedure many of us now take for granted. We’ve got the brilliant Kate Harding on shuttering Shapely Prose, an introduction to our dream interpretation service by Jen Doll, a satirical work of literary history that one of us did not realize was satire (we’ll let you guess which one), a personal narrative by Anne Helen Petersen that made us cry, and the first installment of Ginger Clark‘s “A Literary Agent Answers Your Fevered Questions.”

And it’s toast like the breakfast, or toast like the clinking glasses, whichever your hot little heart prefers.

Welcome. Please stay and tell your friends.

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Nicole and Mallory

Nicole and Mallory

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120 Comments

  1. NicoleCliffe +21

    Oh, what a day we had yesterday! What an exciting day. So happy to see you.

    3. carolita

      I love it, love it, love it. I love the first day content, as a portent of things to come!

    4. deepomega +2

      You shouldn’t say that. What if one of us is a hacker! You wouldn’t be happy to see a hacker at all!

  2. haleycrain +8

    Happy day two of your birth, website! It has been a long and painful labor but look how cute you are. I could just pinch your little cheeks.

  3. anxious mofo +2

    I’m so happy the Toast has arrived! Slightly crispy from brute-force attacks but STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY.

  6. pete +1

    I can comment. Apparently WordPress/Gravatar will only let me post with my whole goddamn name. So I’d better keep it family friendly: Yay Toast!

    1. haleycrain +2

      I’m copying and pasting Nicole from below just to make sure you see it!

      “Hi guys! If you’d rather have different names than you do, you can get an IntensiveDebate account for commenting that’s separate from WordPress, or sign up as a guest!”

      Then you can be as family-unfriendly as you please.

  7. aravisthequeen +4

    I’m so excited to be able to A) read and B) comment! AND INSPIRED TO GO EAT SOME TOAST.

  8. rien à dire +1

    Oh I’m so happy to hear! I’ve missed you both, and yes, there have been wolves out there.

  11. algebraic +2

    Yay! I’m so excited for what you’re going to do here! (A League of Their Own…yesss)

  12. Leigh Walton +18

    Okay but we still need headshots of both of you with chins on fists.
    Maybe chins on each other’s fists??

  16. fonduewithcheddar

    Nicole and Mallory, congratulations! This is going to be so fantastic. I’m really excited to see where it goes!

  20. Aunt_Agatha

    ” we don’t want to run things we find deeply offensive, but sometimes we will want to run things that 40-60% of our readers will strongly disagree with”

  25. lindackerite +2

    Congratulations y’all! Thanks for your hard work to get this off the ground. Really excited to read every article for now and evermore, amen.

  26. NicoleCliffe +5

    Hi guys! If you’d rather have different names than you do, you can get an IntenseDebate account for commenting that’s separate from WordPress, or sign up as a guest!

      1. craftastrophies +1

        Oh god, so many new usernames to remember.

        I already feel guilty every time I log into tumblr and can’t remember which pinner is which. CMON BRAIN!

    3. TheRenleigh +2

      This is the happiest day! The problems yesterday only made me want you more!

  29. Nick Douglas +2

    Hello, you’re the best, I’ll try to take time between refreshing for Mallory’s first byline!

  30. Setec Astrology +4

    So what’s this “p” unit attached to “reputation score”? Probity? Pleasantness? Psychotic tendencies?

    (Also, welcome.)

  32. breccia +12

    i’m just gonna believe that there was a mountain top duel between mallory and PUA (like, as an entity, a voltron-like amalgamation of men with tiresome and dangerous beliefs about women) that kept this site down yesterday. that it is up now clearly means that PUA fell from the precipice and was impaled on the jagged crags below while mallory stood victorious.

      1. embryoconcepts +1

        The feed page looks funky, but it works! Now it’s all snuggled up with The Hairpin, ready to rock.

  36. sea_glass +4

    This is so exciting! I’ve loved following you both on the hairpin and can’t wait to add this to the list of blogs I obsessively refresh during work.

  41. MsNormaDesmond +6

    On the day that Google Reader died, The Toast just became the first thing I ever marked “must read” in Feedly.

  42. toast_and_jam +1

    Congrats ladies! So excited for this!
    BTWs my username and pic is just the same as it is on The Hairpin… but you are free to take it as a compliment !

  43. noodge4lyfe +4

    STOKED. I’m getting bored of sites that post everything I already believe in. I think I still have some growth to do nawimean?

    And… I misread your line that said that you were pro-trans, thinking is said “pro-tans”. I was about to call out your melanin privilege. hehehe

  44. carolita +6

    Also, now that I’ve gone gluten-free, it’s nice to have toast back in my life in this form. 🙂

  48. WZT +2

    Huzzah! I am so happy. This is going to be my new favorite site. I love women, feminism, and buttered bread A LOT!!!!

  49. mollyculetheory +5

    I am a white female who lives in Brooklyn but I am NO LONGER UNDER 30 so you have to publish me ha ha. (But srsly, I’m so pleased that you two of all people teamed up for this adventure!)

  52. Bonnie

    Congratulations! Based on these first few features, I am very excited.

    Nicole, I am just about to consult your excellent reading lists to decide what book to read next. I have them bookmarked.

      1. EnchiladaTaco +3

        Imagine, if you will, a cheese enchilada wrapped inside of a flour tortilla. At my favorite taco place, they go a step further and smother the taco with enchilada sauce and cheese. It will take 6 months off your life, but it’s so good you won’t care.

        Boy, I love Tex-Mex.

        1. msjinxie +2

          That sounds delicious AND practical – an enchilada you can eat with your hand! The only thing that would make it better/worse is if you could somehow deep fry the whole thing.

  56. msjinxie +3

    Congratulations, guys! And welcome to the world, little Toastie! Since you managed to vanquish the forces of evil on your first day, I’ve got high hopes for what you’ll accomplish in the future.

  57. Angry Panda +2

    Yay! It took me a year to sign up for a username and start commenting on the ‘Pin, and now here I am signing up on the first day. Progress!

    1. polkadotsvsstripes

      Same here! Congratulations Melissa and Nicole, and yep, also burn easily, also need indoor activities for the 4th (also, it’s supposed to be 110 here. No thank you.)

  58. rangiferina +1

    hooray! so excited to add this to my daily reading list. 🙂 keep up the good work, toasties

  59. Treasaigh_b +1

    Hurray! Now I can claim this is why I had toast for two meals today (It is not. I am just lazy).

  61. goodmaggie +1

    Congratulations! I look forward to refreshing this more times a day than I care to admit.

  63. deleted4899619 +1

    What ho, who’s this now? No, no, I can’t be having with any of this nonsense.

  67. HeyThatsMyBike

    Hooray! Congrats. It’ll be a wild ride, and I’m happy to be watching/reading about it!

  68. whimseywisp +2

    Yay new ladyblog! Sounds like this is going to be a great place to hang out! If you’re looking for fabulous, sex-positive, activist sex workers, look no farther than @mistressmatisse. She’s pretty great.

    Can’t wait to see what y’all come up with! 😀 😀 😀

  69. johnwthompson +1

    Congratulations to Nicole and Mallory! And to all of us, for bearing witness to the birth of this wondrous and terrifying venture that will soon consume all of our small lives. May its brutal misandrist reign see no end. May its iron crowns adorn the visage of Nicole and Mallory for all ages. They shall fear no man

  70. katiemcgillicuddy +1

    Hello Toast!! I look forward this being what finally obliterates my productivity.

  71. ladygypsy +8

    Oh, 18-35. So cruel, so cruel, says the 40 year old. Even though we live to 65 and beyond, there’s such a dearth of online communities for ladies over 35 that aren’t about our allegedly dying fertility. So I’ll pull up my rocking chair and lap quilt and hang here.

    1. MalloryOrtberg +3

      UGH, I mean, that’s sort of “for advertising purposes” but one thing Nicole and I think the Internet and ladyblogging in particular need A LOT MORE OF is writing by women over forty, over fifty, over sixty and seventy. Please do feel free to pitch us. There are so many narratives about young women out there – many of which are great! – but it often comes at the exclusion of women who are beyond the “first boyfriends” or “I have young children and it’s crazy!” years.

  72. DancingNarwhal +2

    Can I just say that I LOVE that you are going to include more international voices?

    I’m from the US but I didn’t move there until I was 18 and growing up (at least during the part of my life that took place after the internet was in people’s homes) it was always so confusing to read things and then realize they were aimed at other Americans or that the references could only be understood if you lived in NYC. And of course, now I live in the US (and in NYC) so everything is aimed at me now which is nice but it’s still great to hear from international voices (especially since sometimes I still understand that perspective better than the American one) since they are so underrepresented in English speaking media.

  73. BebeGunz +1

    Hellooooo, wee toasty! Just f.y.i, I have been pronouncing it “Toe-ahst” ala the youtube parody version of Chloe Sevigny.

  74. mkpatter +1

    Yaaay! Excited you’re finally up! However, I can only access your articles through the recent sidebar, I can’t go through the homepage at all. 🙁

  77. Minx Whatmore

    AHHHH I was refreshing the website for two days and AS USUAL all the exciting stuff happened overnight while I was asleep!

    Must be pretty awesome to start up a new website and have 100+ comments on the first post. internet loyalty 🙂

  84. quadrophonicsound

    Mine is often taken (Quadrophenia), so…. I'm not surprised, but still, boo.

  90. mabellegueule

    Congratulations Nicole and Mallory!! Great stuff on the site so far, can't wait to see this grow (become toastier?)

    Also Hi Hairpinners 🙂

  91. a_shirty_dame

    Hey, it seems I can't subscribe to the RSS feed on NewsBlur. I've been trying for days & cursing NewsBlur for it, but I'm letting you know on the off chance that the problem is at your end.