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Pakistani celebrities spent Sunday marking International Women’s Day like a scrapbook, messy, affectionate and full of gratitude for the women who shape our lives in ways both obvious and invisible.

From reflective throwbacks to tributes to mothers, sisters and friends, feeds turned into small archives of memory. And if there was a common thread running through them all, it was that womanhood is rarely a solo journey.

No one leaned into the scrapbook idea quite like Mahira Khan.

The actor shared a carousel that moved through different chapters of her life — from teenage awkwardness to early motherhood to the complicated confidence of adulthood. She captioned it, “Bahut nikley mere armaan… lekin phir bhi kam niklay (Many of my desires were fulfilled, yet they were still too few). Happy Women’s Day to all you lovely women.”

Each photo came with a note to her younger self. In one, she is in her twenties, already mother to her son Azlan, describing a version of herself navigating “major personal changes” while hiding pain behind hopeful eyes. Another shows her in a kitchen during her college days in Los Angeles, worrying about class or work, but also — she suspects — dancing to a song in her head and dreaming about a bigger life.

There were glimpses of her VJ era, where she remembers wearing churis with western attire without caring what anyone thought, and a painfully relatable confession attached to a glamorous awards-night photo — despite appearances, she was having a panic attack and struggling with her self-esteem.

The carousel eventually lands on baby Mahira and then present-day Mahira — a reminder, she writes, that what survives all the highs and lows is “more dreams, always hope, and that child that somehow this world didn’t manage to erase”.

Where Mahira’s post felt introspective, Syra Yousuf’s was a celebration of the women who surround her.

Her caption honoured “the women who raised me, the women who walk beside me, the little ones growing through it all, and the woman I have become along the way”. The first photo was of her daughter Nooreh — described as “sunshine in human form” — followed by a portrait of her mother and former mother-in-law, whom she called “different stories, same strength”.

There were playful moments too — a photo of Yousuf wearing a pakol with the caption “Life’s better with a little Pathan drama,” pictures with her sisters titled “Charlie’s Angels,” and even a nod to her past — a wedding photograph from her nikah with Shahroze Sabzwari, which she described as “a sacred chapter in a woman’s becoming”.

For Iqra Aziz, the day was less about looking back and more about acknowledging the women who make her everyday life possible.

In a long, affectionate caption, the actor dedicated her post to her mother and sister, writing that even a day like Women’s Day cannot fully capture everything women do. She spoke particularly about her mother’s support through pregnancy and recovery, calling her strength a constant source of courage.

The accompanying photos leaned into moments like Aziz feeding her son while her mother feeds her, snapshots of family life that underline the invisible labour women perform for one another.

Meanwhile, Kubra Khan took the opportunity to celebrate a different kind of bond — friendship.

Her Women’s Day post doubled as a birthday tribute to a best friend she called “Superwoman”, thanking her for always putting her first even when Kubra forgets to do so herself. The carousel showed the pair travelling together, celebrating milestones and even sharing moments from her wedding — the kind of friendship album that suggests chosen family can be just as formative as the one you’re born into.

And then there was Zara Noor Abbas, whose tribute painted a family tree of formidable women.

She began with a photograph of herself as a baby, writing that the woman she is today looks back at that child with pride for how far they have come together. The post moved through generations — her mother, veteran actor Asma Abbas; the women of her household whom she described as “fire”; her late aunt, actor Sumbul Shahid, remembered for dreaming fiercely and carrying immense patience; and another legendary aunt, Bushra Ansari, whom she called an icon.

The rest of the carousel featured cousins, sisters and baby girls in the family, reminding fans that the story of womanhood is usually a chain.

While public conversations about women’s lives often swing between adoration and scorn, these posts felt refreshing. Just women acknowledging the complicated paths that brought them here, and the other women who walked those paths with them.

Each post affirmed that while society can continue to pit women against each other — calling ‘a woman another woman’s worst enemy’ — it’s usually a woman who will support and understand another woman like no other.