As a wife, daughter, mother and sister a woman undergoes diversified experiences which is why women writers have depicted the multifaceted roles of women in distinctive styles and nuances of expression.

Razia Butt's heroines often captivate the readers' minds with their exotic attires and coy demeanour. Aneela, Naila, Saiqa, despite their physical charms, seem enmeshed in societal injustices in the male-dominated society they live in.

In Amma a woman's explicit effort to get rich by marrying an aged person backfires and she finds herself inextricably trapped in the web of her crushed desires.

Ismat Chughtai's heroines are bold, prone to human foibles and are on no account paragons of virtue or perfect models of beauty. Ismat is said to be a ground-breaker for women writers and a dauntless crusader for the rights of women. The ace Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah once opined that Ismat's observations about the nature of human relationships are pungently true and she has been enraging hordes of male chauvinists around her.

Bano Qudsia, the writer of epoch-making books such as Raja Gidh, and herself a devoted wife and mother, views women's efforts to free themselves from societal bonds and traditional norms from a different perspective. She blames men for pushing the woman out of her prized domain, her paradise, her home sweet home.

She says, 'All women fall easy prey to this trap. Men of the post-industrial age gave women a taste of luxurious lifestyles, instigating her to step out of the house. Women thought it was freedom but it actually bonded her as a labourer and a breadwinner.' Some women writers are bold enough to stand up against subjugation by their husbands and abandon the role of an obsequious wife.

In her autobiographic novel Tehmina Durrani gives vent to her traumatic marital experiences. She dwells on her journey from an elitist housewife to an emancipated human being. According to her, women in the upper classes focus on fashion, jewelry, interior decoration and the intrigues of servants. They have to step out of their drawing rooms to realise that women have actually played monumental roles in history.

Razia Fasih Ahmed, the writer of unforgettable novels such as Saddiyon ki Zanjeer and Abla-i-Pa has mostly depicted women as rooted to the soil, irretrievably bound to traditions and often suffering in resigned silence.

Kamila Shamsie has very masterfully woven her novel Burnt Shadows around the central character Harokio, a survivor of Nagasaki who manages to cement her marital bond despite her physical and mental scars.

Fauzia Saeed has selected a bold theme for her book Taboo. The research work highlights the lives of women and dancing girls living in Lahore's Shahi Mohallah. While Tasnim Mirza has conducted research about women of the lower and middle classes working in male-dominated organisations.

Even after reading the works of women writers, one question seems to defy answer Is the woman still a weak and helpless victim of societal injustices, or has she succeeded in proving herself a force to be reckoned with?