The figure of the woman warrior serves as a unifying image for the various representations of the empowered woman in the pieces of literature of Southeast Asia. The works discussed—poetry from the Philippines and Thailand, fiction from Vietnam and Indonesia—present narratives of women in the struggle to free themselves from oppressive cultural traditions and cope with the disruptive events in the history of their countries. From the dynamics of this struggle, they emerge enabled, gaining control of their lives and participating actively in the process of social and historical change.