From The Sunday Read Archives: ‘My Mustache, My Self’

<p>During months of pandemic isolation, Wesley Morris, a critic at large for The New York Times, decided to grow a mustache.</p><p>The reviews were mixed and predictable. He heard it described as “porny” and “creepy,” as well as “rugged” and “extra gay.”</p><p>It was a comment on a group call, however, that gave him pause. Someone noted that his mustache made him look like a lawyer for the N.A.A.C.P.’s legal defense fund.</p><p>“It was said as a winking correction and an earnest clarification — <i>Y’all, this is what it is</i>,” Wesley said. “The call moved on, but I didn’t. That is what it is: one of the sweetest, truest things anybody had said about me in a long time.”</p><p>On today’s episode of The Sunday Read, Wesley Morris’s story about Blackness and the symbolic power of the mustache.</p><p><i><strong>This story</strong> <strong>was written by Wesley Morris and recorded by Audm</strong>. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, </i><a href="https://www.audm.com/?utm_source=nytmag&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=my_mustache" target="_blank"><i>download Audm for iPhone or Android</i></a><i>.</i></p>