

“Are you allowed to represent yourself?” – how weird is this question?
Interestingly, it’s a question we find behind some pretty strange yet uncommon statements people make about politics.
Although this episode – and an almost identical one in Lithuanian! – was sparked by something that has just happened in Lithuania, I talk about something universally important: political representation.
What is the current paradigm when it comes to who is allowed to represent whom? What is the role that the concept of a myth plays here? And why do we have to talk about political representation in the first place?
This is the perfect episode for International Women’s Day.
Why? Because we can’t talk about women’s progress in any society without talking about political representation.
Give it a listen.
As I’ve promised in this episode, here are two books I highly recommend on the topic of gender quality and “who is allowed to represent whom”.
- Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
- Mediocre by Ijeoma Oluo
“Books by women? So niche…”
Find my article on gender-based violence here.
Subscribe to my articles below or check out and subscribe to my free newsletter on Substack!
Latest from the Blog
An Interview on Iran and Israel You Have to See
This is an absolute must-watch: Jeremy Scahill, one of the few journalists who interviews and is trusted by various actors, including the Iranian government, talks to Samir Mohyeddin about the U.S.-Iranian negotiations and Israel’s “fragile ceasefires” in Gaza and Lebanon. It’s a conversation good for our brains and conscience.
When Words Become Both The Representation And The Represented
The simplest propaganda technique – blatant lies – might be all that Israel and its supporters have left in their toolbox. Yet words with no meaning is what our leaders, too, have been resorting to for years now, following Israel itself.
Israel: The Only Country Whose Actions Never Represent Itself
If it is not its ministers, navy, police, prison guards, people marching on the streets, nor settlers protected by the army, who, then, actually represents Israel?
Updates On The Global Sumud Flotilla: Saif and Thiago Are Free
After their kidnapping and illegal detention in Israel, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila have been released. Our global pressure worked. But our work is far from over.
On The Global Sumud Flotilla, What The World with Israel in It Looks Like, And What It Does to Our Nervous Systems
To exist in the world where Israel, too, exists – to physically be and function in such a world – is hard on our nervous systems. The new horrors of the kidnapping of Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek are yet another reminder of how that heaviness won’t go away, as long as Israel -…
How Did Jon Stewart Miss The Greatest Piece of Satire on His Show?
Here’s a reminder that choosing to interview someone who history – and, hopefully, the ICJ – will remember as a war criminal and a genocide enabler, like Annalena Baerbock, is very much not cool. Especially when you have a massive platform.
What, According to My Government, Other Countries Can Learn from Israel
This is the most straightforward way I can put it: just like there are countries in history known for their collaboration with the Nazi regime, my country, Lithuania, has inscribed itself as one of the staunchest supporters of Israel, no matter the scale, depravity, or geography of its crimes. See if my rage resonates with…
Invest in Decolonising Narratives
Something incredible is happening in Panama – in that how anticolonial it is. I’m inviting you to support it.
What Israel’s Destruction of Lebanon Is Showing Us Painfully Clearly
When Israel shows only contempt for what its greater ally wants, we need no more proof is there’s anything above Israel’s colonial expansionist ambitions.
On Iran, (Ir)rationality, and Those Who Didn’t See Any Destabilisation of The Region in Israel’s Genocide
Remember when Iran used to be called an irrational, unpredictable actor? Well, I invite you to notice any changes when it comes to irrationality, constructed narratives, and how war propaganda looks these days.
On One of The Gravest Crimes against Humanity That Not Every Country Chose to Condemn at The UN
The UN just voted to describe the transatlantic slave trade as ‘the gravest crime against humanity’. Yet not every country, according to its vote, agrees. My commentary is on what the abstentions show.
Your Antiwar Voice Is Needed More Than You Might Think
The war machine won’t stop until it’s stopped, just as its propaganda won’t just disappear on its own. It was to be actively pointed to, deconstructed, and rejected as loudly as possible. And this is where everyone’s voice matters.
3 thoughts on “Are You Allowed to Represent Yourself?”