Toast Points for the Week of October 9th

by Nicole Chung · October 9, 2015

MONK #1: so these tower sized women
are they always IN towers, or just the SIZE of towers
MONK #2: yes
MONK #1: yes to which part
MONK #2: both
being a tower is a very important aspect of womanhood

We interviewed Rainbow Rowell about Carry On (WHICH YOU NEED TO READ IMMEDIATELY):

I understand that some writers don’t enjoy writing romance, but it’s always seemed strange to me the way romance gets corralled into its own genre. Because romance and romantic love are so much a part of most of our lives. The desire for it, the search for it, finding it, losing it, holding on …

My favorite stories have romance and love in the mix, even if they aren’t always front and center. (This is whyThe Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie.)

All that is to say, no, for me, it wasn’t challenging balancing the romance and the rest of the plot. Because every scene with Baz and Simon is a romantic scene. Even if it’s also a saving-the-world scene.

This perfect post of Mallory’s inspired me to spend the better part of an afternoon reading Miss Fisher fanfic, and I feel so much better now. If you too watch this show and find yourself continually frustrated by the nigh-unbearable and unresolved sexual tension, allow me to prescribe one fic every time the air between Phryne and Jack crackles. (I…could possibly recommend some stories for you in the comments.)

Megan Castellan on titles, her vocation, and the things you do for family:

In all those conversations back in seminary, no one wanted to be a “Mother.” To be a mother was nothing near the strength inherent in “Father,” my classmates argued—it was a second-place substitute. “Mother” brought up conflicted feelings about your relationship with your actual mom, and worse—it led to unrealistic projections and expectations. It meant you had to be warm and fuzzy and nurturing and probably hang out with babies, the argument went. Let’s be good feminists, we agreed—let’s use gender-neutral titles only. Let’s stay at an safe distance, and never be confused with ego-inflating monsters!

Seminary itself had enabled this conclusion. When my female classmates and I learned to chant the liturgy, we were told to sing an octave lower, so the men in the congregation could follow along. When I led my first practice Mass, I was chided for wearing my grandmother’s pink sapphire ring and wearing my hair loose (“these are inappropriate distractions at the altar”). The only shoes allowed for serving in the chapel were soft-soled, shapeless and black—worn underneath vestments that (as we were taught early on) were modeled after the clothing of Roman noblemen. The black shirts worn with the clerical collar were shapeless, and seemed interchangeable with a garbage bag. When I pointed this out, the salesman stared at me. “They need to protect your dignity. You can’t have them fitted, now can you?”

The Sequel to The Philadelphia Story That Katherine Hepburn Deserves

Morgan Jerkins:

It starts with urging national publications to create series around the mystique of living in the black female body and enlisting black female writers to explore this phenomenon. It follows with having more black women on staff. It continues with giving more praise to books written by and for black women . . . Without this, black women are relegated to being invisible concepts.

Dirtbag Ezra Pound:

I barely have time to convince my favorite mistress to abandon her promising career as a violinist in order to play nursemaid to me and head archivist to my legacy
i can see how that would get
taxing
and that’s without all the anti-Semitism, even
sure
which also takes up a lot of my time

Mallory introduced us to these wonderful bodybuilders and their tiny cups of coffee and letters and one of them (Odd-Magnus Williamson!) dropped by The Toast to comment; I CANNOT be the only one secretly hoping for a Toast exclusive now.

Anastasia Valens on the interactive game “Even Cowgirls Bleed” and how playing it helped her think about her own experiences as a trans woman at the margins of her LGBT community.

“If Tilda Swinton were your girlfriend, she’d be pleased to loan you anything from her closet, even though nothing ever looks quite right on you and is always several inches too long. You’d try not to act like it was a big deal when Tilda showed you her old christening gown, which was woven before the Norman Conquest.”

Nicole Chung is the Managing Editor of The Toast.


23 Comments

  1. champagneghost +34

    Boyfriend caught me back at the Norwegian bodybuilder page. “Wait, are you watching that again?”

    YES. BUT ONLY AFTER I FIND THE GENTLE GIANT’S COMMENTS.

    2. thoughthungry +3

      She is my everything muse. To have those gorgeous fringey kimono blouses and wide-legged swooshy trousers! The little hats and the long coats!

      (Except for drop waists. Let’s just pretend those were never a thing).

  3. littlehuntingcreek +33

    I would like the Magic Mike XXL guys to make a movie with the Norwegian bodybuilders. Make that happen, please.

  4. Julia Lambert +20

    Oh, that photo of Phryne and Jack. This seems like a good time to say that I once had a dream that began where that scene left off, with me as Phryne. We did NOT make it through the end of “Let’s Misbehave.” I was in SUCH a good mood that day and texted about five of my friends to share my joy.

  5. JocastaCarr +19

    *ahem* I for one would be interested in any and all Miss Fisher fic recommendations…

    2. Nikki +3

      I need to do a LOT more research, clearly, but the other day I read most of the fics by this author (who was at the top of the archive when I searched according to recent updates!), and liked a bunch of them.

    4. Girl in Sydney +2

      I went and read a few after this post. Some awful ones.

      Phryne and Jack having a baby seems out of character.

        1. Girl in Sydney +1

          Yes. And bring back Jane!

          A lot of Harlequinised Phryne fanfic around.. Doesn’t float my boat.

  6. houblonchouffe +6

    I have just re-sent the bodybuilders to MrChouffe. He is entranced at Mr Odd-Magnus W.

  7. Catherine +8

    I bought Carry On immediately after Nicole said it was maybe the best YA novel she had ever read, and now I have read it and then read it again (I know, but I have some time off work right now, no regrets) and I think she might be right? The only problem is that now I’m grappling with that grumpy feeling that always hits after I finish a book that I really love, and the desire to natter on about Simon and Baz to my partner, who just makes a confused face when I try to explain the connection to Fangirl.

  8. stephiecakes +14

    RELATEDLY if anyone would like to read two Australian toasties spilling their feelings about Miss Fisher, including complaining about the books, I include a link to this thing I once wrote. http://no-award.net/2015/06/11/phryne-fisher/

    EVERYONE HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT JACK AND PHRYNE GOOD but also orientalism and racism and Australian race relations in the 1920s thx

    1. Nikki +11

      I ship Phryne and Jack so hard, but the racial/ethnic stuff on the show is REALLY AWKWARDLY/TERRIBLY DONE and I’m glad you posted this.

  11. EgaliasDaughter +9

    As a Norwegian and longtime lurker, The Toast’s recent love for Norwegian bodybuilders warms my heart. But now I also feel like I should start lifting and pay another visit to Lilleputthammer (which I last visited as a wee child).