In her seminal work, The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses(1997), Oyěwùmí argues that the concept of gender, as understood in the West, is not universal and that imposing it on African societies had and has harmful colonial consequences. By drawing from Yoruba culture, she reexamines how we think about identity, power, and the roles assigned to women. Togetherwith Oyěwùmí, Grâce Ndjako, Amanda Mokoena and Linda Musariri, we discuss how Oyěwùmí’swork continues to challenge dominant narratives and inspire new approaches to gender across disciplines and cultures, highlighting the importance of reclaiming indigenous viewpoints in today’s academic and social conversations.