Ford said she wanted to revolutionize pop music by using the word "fuck", and was surprised her label chose it as a single because of its explicit content.

Lava released "A Toast to Men" in 2003 as the lead single from Ford's second studio album, SexySexObsessive, which was canceled following issues within the record company.

She said she purposefully used profanity to reflect an ongoing "revolution" in how pop music was perceived by the public, explaining: "I wanted it to be sexy and fierce and be OK to say the word 'fuck'.

[4][12] An edited version of the song without the intro was issued in October 2003,[13] and an extended play (EP) containing four remixes was made available the following month.

[12] A music video was released to promote the track further, which Billboard's Chuck Taylor praised as "saucy (but graciously playful", writing it "adds fuel to the flamboyant raunch" of the song.

[5][7] Radio personalities were uncertain how to introduce the songs on air without violating Federal Communications Commission guidelines against the use of profanity.

[17] In a 2004 Orlando Weekly interview, Ford said "A Toast to Men" was meant to only be "this club thing"; however, its popularity on radio resulted in it being promoted as a different, more radio-friendly single.

[17] In Orlando Weekly, Billy Manes enjoyed the "Fuck the Men" part of the title, and described the song as a "mildly trashy rewrite of the recent, angstier Aguilera".

[2] In a mixed review, Chuck Taylor described "A Toast to Men" as a "cheap thrill", criticizing its intention to shock the listener as too overt.

[4] In a 2012 Complex article, Tara Aquino and Julian Patterson considered Lady May's featured appearances on other artists' songs, including "A Toast to Men", as a sign that the momentum built from her 2002 single "Round Up" was diminishing.

[8][20] Rolling Stone's Gill Kaufman wrote that Ford "transforms a salty sorority chant into a female-empowerment anthem".