Feeling despondent.

[WomaninBoots]

Watching the results map of Scotland start to turn yellow.

Anyone else want to sit in a corner and cry with me?

I didn't really expect anything else though and I've no idea what colour I would actually want it to turn! But every bit of yellow seems to say "women don't matter".

@BlackForestCake

Almost hoping for the SNP to get a majority so at least they're not dependent on the fucking Greens

No. The SNP getting an outright majority is the worst possible outcome.

I'm glad there's reasons to be hopeful and the election results don't necessarily reflect the situation on the ground.

I just needed somewhere to express my disappointment that there wasn't some huge protest change of voting pattern like I was secretly hoping for.

I can't say "oh crap not the SNP everywhere" in any of my other Internet spaces without starting an independence vs unionist war.

I can't say "oh crap not the SNP everywhere" in any of my other Internet spaces without starting an independence vs unionist war

Oh, they are loud.

I am gutted, I thought there would be more spoiled papers, instead the greens have increased their vote. It certainly feels like Scotland is not a place for people who believe in science. I also hated the awful snp election nonsense, free bikes, computers, more money etc etc. I aleays supported the SNP now nowhere comes close to what matters to me.

this ideology won't be dismantled with a wave of a wand by votes at an election. It'll be hard work and behind-the-scenes legal processes that change things, the way they have always underpinned change within this movement. Sunlight is seeping through, and with For Women Scotland and MBM doing incredible work, there can only be more sunlight in the future.

Absolutely. We've come a long way thanks to the efforts of many women to expose a lot of what's being going on behind the scenes.

Another thing that works really well is simply talking to people. That's been hard to do during lockdown and people have been understandably preoccupied with the pandemic, Brexit etc. That's going to change though.

Some of the GC women I know have had fairly productive chats with mums in parks recently etc.
Start brushing up on your skill to strike up a conversation with strangers. It's going to be needed.

I was watching the results coming in yesterday but I don't know if I can cope watching it today! I just feel totally flat. I know there is amazing work going on by women across Scotland to protect our rights, but I'm so angry this is even needs to be done and that we could be concentrating our energies on other issues like education, job opportunities, reducing Scotland's debt, improving productivity, bringing people out of poverty.... It's like this huge misdirection, how much time was taken up debating the hate crime bill? On balance was this a great use of resources?

Exactly. I'm so frustrated that we get all this rubbish that is obviously detrimental to women and free speech and science and reality... when there is, you know, actually concrete issues that affect real lives to sort out and focus on. It feels like everyone in the room slipped into an alternate reality when I was distracted by the buffet table or something.

Ugh ugh ugh ugh.

Sending sympathy across the border, having watched Johnson and his cronies rewarded for presiding over one of the worst responses to a pandemic in the developed world. And at the same time, I feel sick at not wanting a Labour/Green government that would be worse for women.

SolitaryBee, don’t give up. We’ve seen crazes come and go in our lifetime. Feminism, including Women’s Liberation, has made real and lasting gains because it is a genuinely progressive movement. Look how few rights women had in the 19th century.