When I was in 7th grade, all of my friends started shaving their legs and I wanted to do the same, but my mom discouraged it, pretty much saying that I didn’t have a lot of leg hair and it was blonde so you couldn’t even see it and, aside from the potential of cutting myself, once I started shaving my legs, I’d then have to continue doing it.

A little while later, some promo samples came in the mail and one of the items was a BIC razor so I “stole” it and kept it on hand until I had the perfect window of time to try shaving my legs.

I remember sitting on the edge of the bathtub and carefully laying out a towel along with the razor and a can of shaving cream I took from my dad’s bathroom.

I carefully began shaving my legs and I was SO excited to find how easy it was and I was super proud of how I didn’t even cut myself.

When I was done, I rinsed off the excess shaving cream and dried my legs, but I quickly noticed my legs were still covered in just as many little hairs as when I had started.

Confused, I took a look at the razor to see what was wrong, and that’s when I realized I had never taken off the plastic blade guard.

I didn’t try again for another year because I realized I was way too dumb to be trusted with any sort of razor blade.

I am beyond pleased to share that I am featured in the latest issue of the world renowned Smithsonian Magazine (July/August 2025).

To see my drystone work, and my voice, recognised, and to take up space in a field where women are still few and far between, means more than I can say.

I was so proud to show my daughters this.

"I realised really quickly for every stone I can't lift, there's a stone that a man can't lift"

https://kristiedegaris.substack.com/p/my-drystone-work-featured-in-the-smithsonian-magazine

#Scotland #Culture #History #Article