[1][2] She was the granddaughter of Ignacio Mejía [es], who served as Mexican Secretary of War and was a Division General under the regime of President Benito Juárez.

[3] Her great-grandfather was Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Cristóbal Mejía, who fought in the Mexican War of Independence in the army of Agustín de Iturbide.

[8] After her separation, Arizmendi returned to Mexico City to care for her siblings and evaluate whether she wanted to become a nurse or a teacher, the limited options available to women of her era.

[1][3] To supplement her education she read widely, including Greek classics, and was influenced by Swedish feminist Ellen Key's views on women's sexuality.

On 17 April 1911, a few weeks prior to her graduation, Arizmendi returned to Mexico City to help wounded combatants,[3] as the Mexican Red Cross refused to provide aid to insurgents.

[12] Arizmendi arranged a personal meeting with the head of the Red Cross, who reiterated the refusal to support revolutionaries.

[13] Forming an association under the guidelines of the Geneva Conventions, Arizmendi became the fundraiser, enlisting the help of celebrities like María Conesa, Virginia Fábregas, and Leopoldo Beristáin.

Arizmendi and Carlos formed the first brigade with doctors Ignacio Barrios and Antonio Márquez, and nurses María Avon, Juana Flores Gallardo, Atilana García, Elena de Lange, and Tomasa Villareal.

The second brigade, led by Dr. Francisco, left the following day, and on the 14th a third brigade followed, headed by Dr. Lorenzo and ten nurses, including Innocenta Díaz, Concepción Ibáñez, Jovita Muñiz, Concepción Sánchez, María Sánchez, Basilia Vélez, María Vélez, and Antonia Zorilla.

She did accept a gold medal presented to her for dedication to helping the wounded by the Gran Liga Obrera (Grand Worker League).

[19] Arizmendi asked Madero for assistance with her role in the White Cross, and was referred to seek legal council from José Vasconcelos.

[30] Helped by Pedro Henríquez Ureña, she began working as a journalist, writing for newspapers and magazines, and giving music lessons.

[44] Arizmendi was one of the founders of the International League of Iberian and Latin American Women (Liga Internacional de Mujeres Ibéricas e Hispanoamericanas) and served as its first vice president from 1921.

[45] The following year, she attended the Pan-American Conference of Women, held in Baltimore, Maryland, as a private attendee rather than part of the official Mexican delegation, which included among others, María Luisa Garza, Eulalia Guzmán, Julia Nava, Elena Torres, and Luz Vera.

[46][47] Though the official delegates did not resent the racism and superiority displayed by attendees such as Lady Nancy Astor, who declared she would never visit Latin America because of the prevalence of violence there, Arizmendi was angered by such assertions.

[48] When Carrie Chapman Catt abandoned a proposed trip to Latin America because of stereotypical ideas, Arizmendi realized that European and American feminists did not grasp the cultural realities of Hispanic women.

[62] Though they sought to unite feminists from Spain and Latin America, Arizmendi's vision did not include indigenous heritage as part of their shared culture.

[57] Mujeres de la Raza rejected feminism as a solely political action, instead maintaining it was focused on moral leadership and an intellectual battle against incompetence.

[67] Villa attempted to close the conference when her view of marriage, that it was a lifetime commitment and divorce would only harm women by giving men their freedom, was rejected.

[70] By 1927, Arizmendi had separated from Duersch, because of incompatibility, and when Vasconcelos returned to New York that year, she interviewed him for the Revista de la Raza.

[72][64] The interview was focused on the political climate of Mexico and his candidacy for the National Anti-Reelectionist Party [es] in the upcoming presidential election.

[75] She wrote candidly about the conflicts in her relationships with both Vasconcelos and Duersch, but also covered cultural and gender differences between Anglo- and Latin-American society.

[8][56] For the 25th-anniversary commemoration of the organization of the White Cross in 1936, and partly because President Lázaro Cárdenas supported suffrage, Arizmendi returned briefly to Mexico.

Government indifference led to her seeking private funding in 1942, and Rodulfo Brito Foucher became the benefactor of the organization.

[79][84] According to professor Gabriela Cano Ortega, historians and critics have noted that Arizmendi was known for her physical beauty and the warmth of her personality, despite her privilege as an elite member of society.

[88][84] Carolina Villarroel, one of the founders of the University of Houston's US Latino Digital Humanities Center,[89] called Arizmendi's Vida incompleta "the first Hispanic feminist novel".