article: But this wasn't any ordinary political programme. To investigate what the women of Scotland want from the independence debate - never mind the outcome - we decided to have an all-female cast of contributors. This wasn't to alienate the good men of Scotland but to ensure we crammed the programme with as many disparate female voices as possible. The spark for "What Women Want" was a poll by the influential Scottish Social Attitudes Survey that highlighted a sustained gender gap in voting intentions. Who? Voters in Scotland will go to the polls to vote on their country's future. What? They will be asked the yes/no question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" When? The vote takes place on Thursday, 18 September, 2014. For as long as the organisation has asked a question about independence - about 15 years - women have been less keen on voting Yes by a consistent six or seven percent margin. Combine that with the disproportionate number of women who say they are undecided, and you have a societal grouping that could prove pivotal for September's outcome. We wanted to get to the root of why so many women felt unable to make a decision and why, among those who'd professed an opinion, so many felt independence wasn't the road to travel. It's easy for people like me who've been interviewing politicians on the referendum debate since Adam was a boy to assume every word of it is fed into Scotland's homes to be analysed and debated, but that's clearly nonsense. Normal people have other priorities, and it could be argued that because so many women have families or are carers, our lives tend to be more fragmented. It's not that we work any harder, let's just say we often have more plates spinning than men. On the search for women from all walks of life a night at the bingo proved an eye-opener and a humiliation. You would imagine that hearing a number and marking a card is fairly straightforward. It's not. Trailing three numbers behind the caller was a bit disconcerting; having the elderly lady next to me take over my card while marking three of her own, was downright embarrassing. When I wasn't interrupting their games the women at the bingo were keen to tell me how they felt they weren't being served by the Yes and No campaign. Time and time again I heard a plea for transparency in the debate and a hope that the politicians would stop shouting at each other and provide some facts. Whether or not there are facts to be had in this most crucial of decisions is debatable in itself, but as far as the women we spoke to are concerned, at least some straight talking wouldn't go amiss. The programme also decided to tackle head on the hypothesis that women are more risk averse and therefore prone to sticking with the status quo, i.e. the UK. Try telling the ladies of Edinburgh's Auld Reekie Roller Girls, who meet on a Friday night and knock lumps out of
summary: When I started making a documentary about women and the independence referendum little did I know that Maw Broon, a night at the bingo, paramedics at the roller derby, cleaning out my gutters and learning of Nicola Sturgeon's unfamiliarity with her kitchen would all play a part.