CHALLENGING THE MYTH

WOMEN IN ISMAT CHUGHTAI'S SHORT STORIES

Abstract

This article explores the iconoclastic writings of Ismat Chughtai, a pioneering Urdu short story writer who boldly challenged the stereotypical representations of Muslim women in Indian literature. Against the dominant images of veils, backwardness, and subjugation, Chughtai redefined the female body as a site of agency, dissent, and empowerment. Drawing on her own lived experiences, Chughtai portrayed women caught between tradition and modernity, appearance and desire, repression and self-expression. Her stories, infused with irony and realism, critique the hypocrisy of patriarchal structures, the contradictions of marriage, and the moral duplicities of society. By foregrounding issues of sexuality, individuality, and resistance, Chughtai dismantles the myth of passive Muslim womanhood and foregrounds new possibilities of female subjectivity. The article situates her narratives within broader feminist discourses, highlighting how her works anticipate later debates on gender, power, and representation.