Remembering Feminist Role Model and Revolutionary, Lina Ben Mhenni

On Monday, January 27th, Tunisia lost one of its most prominent feminist activists: Lina ben Mhenni died at the age of 36 after a long battle with lupus, a chronic systemic autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with at 11 years old. Her condition didn't stop her from following an outstanding and exceptional path, though.

Born to a middle-class family — she is the daughter of left-leaning activist Sadok Ben Mhenni, — ben Mhenni started her blog "A Tunisian Girl /بنيّة تونسية" in 2007. Written in Arabic, French, and English, Ben Mhenni was one of a number of bloggers who spoke out against Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's dictatorial regime. She was one of very few bloggers, however, who wrote using their real name. Under the oppressive regime of then-Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Ben Mhenni's blog was censored and banned, and Tunisian police forces harassed her. She received death threats, and her laptop and camera were stolen from her in a so-called robbery.

In December 2010, a young Tunisian college graduate living in the city of Sidi Bouzid named Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire. Like so many young Tunisian college graduates, he had been unemployed for a long time and worked as a street vendor to support himself and his family. He immolated himself out of desperation after a government worker mistreated him and his cart, his only source of income, was confiscated. This act is seen by many as the start of the Tunisian revolution.

When the revolution started, I was way too young to understand anything that was going on. All I remember was watching television with my family while a curfew was imposed. Among images on television of a raging crowd of male protestors on the streets, I saw a short, thin young woman. I asked my mother who she was, and she told me that her name is Lina Ben Mhenni and that she's a resistance fighter against Ben Ali's regime.

This image stayed etched in my memory because, at ten years old, I had never seen a woman protesting alongside men before. She changed my perception of insurgency and made me realize that girls can rebel against injustice, just like boys.

Ben Mhenni was the first blogger to go to Sidi Bouzid when the revolution started. During the early months of 2011, as the revolution kicked into full gear, Ben Mhenni traveled across the country, publishing photos and videos of victims of Ben Ali's oppressive regime as well as testimonies from their families. The same year, her book gathering these stories, titled "Tunisian Girl: A Blogger for an Arab Spring," was published.

After the fall of the dictatorship in 2011, Ben Mhenni began teaching English at the University of Tuni and continued fighting for equality and freedom. After the electoral victory of the Islamist conservative party "Ennahdha" in 2011, she expressed her concern regarding the rise of Islamists. She was worried that this religious fundamentalist movement would threaten Tunisian women's political gains by introducing policies that reduce women's rights.

The same year, Ben Mhenni was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions and activism during the revolution. She was also awarded El Mundo's International Journalism Prize for her fight for freedom and awarded the Deutsche Welle International Blog Award for her blog.

I followed Ben Mhenni's accomplishments and listened to her interviews, even though I didn't understand all that she was saying at the time. As a young girl, I admired her confidence, humility, eloquence, and the way she calmly debated others.

In the middle of my teenage years, I started following her on social media and devoured her blog posts, through which she defended various social causes and represented oppressed people. She inspired me to use words as weapons to defend girls' rights and the feminist cause. I even got the chance to interview her for one of my pieces.

In addition to her political activism, Ben Mhenni fought for awareness of invisible disabilities, which she had suffered since her lupus diagnosis. In fact, after her kidney transplants in 2007 and 2009, she participated in the World Transplant Games and earned a silver medal.

By fighting for a broader understanding of invisible disabilities, Ben Mhenni became a role model for all the Tunisian girls and women with similar, chronic diseases. She showed them that although it's hard to live with the symptoms, the condition doesn't have to stop their lives. She often published encouraging posts and set an example by doing her daily life activities, like attending conferences and events, even when she didn't feel that well.

Lina Ben Mhenni was an emblematic figure of the revolution — and so much more. This "Tunisian girl" inspired many other young Tunisian girls like me. She taught us valuable lessons, like that we should defy illness and not let it stop us from doing what we love. She taught us that words can change a country and the destiny of a nation. She taught us that fighting for the underprivileged is everyone's duty. She taught us that being committed to a cause is worth it.

Lina Ben Mhenni left a feminist legacy that will continue far after her death. In fact, during her state funeral, her female friends carried her casket on their shoulders to the cemetery. In the Tunisian and Arab culture, women are prohibited from attending funerals and carrying caskets. This is a first in the Arab world, thanks to Ben Mhenni, who, even from the afterlife, is still pushing women to rebel and continue our battle against patriarchy.