# Arena Three

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Arena_Three
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Arena_Three.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_Three
> Source revision: 1353957861
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

British monthly magazine, 1964–1971

Arena Three February 1966 cover Frequency Monthly Publisher Minorities Research Group Founder Esme Langley, Diana Chapman First issue 1964 Final issue 1971 Country United Kingdom Language English

***Arena Three*** was a British monthly publication founded by [Esme Langley](/source/Esme_Langley) and Diana Chapman in 1964.[1] It was written by and for lesbians and published by the [Minorities Research Group](/source/Minorities_Research_Group) (MRG) from 1964 to 1971.[2]

## History

*Arena Three* came out of a need for a lesbian-specific magazine that could encourage MRG membership outside of [London](/source/London).[3] The name was chosen for its neutrality and to not arouse suspicion of the nature of its contents.[4] The first issue of *Arena Three* was published in the spring of 1964 and quickly grew in readership. By July 1965 it had over 600 members.[5]

Due to concerns with public morality laws, Arena Three was not sold to the general public and instead depended on revenue from private subscriptions. The magazine consequently struggled to find avenues for advertising due to the nature of its content.[6]

From early on, the publication also suffered from larger tensions within the organization. In 1970, *Arena Three’*s income had become dire, and after a revitalization led in part by [Jackie Forster](/source/Jackie_Forster), it once more began to be profitable. By 1971, internal disagreements had hit a breaking point. Esmé Langley decided to end the publication after taking *Arena Three’s* financial assets abroad. The newer recruits to the magazine reorganized under Foster to create [Sappho](/source/Sappho_(organisation))*.*[7]

## Contents

The magazine featured articles on the causes of lesbianism, lesbian relationships, and general life and wellbeing as a lesbian. It had a public debate forum in the form of reader letters, and published general poetry, short stories and book reviews of interest.[8]

## Membership

*Arena Three was* written and targeted at [middle class](/source/Middle_class) lesbians in their thirties. MRG membership was open to both men and women regardless of their sexuality, and a number of gay men, [social workers](/source/Social_work), and [psychiatrists](/source/Psychiatrist) subscribed.

Class issues within the magazine were documented. A 1964 questionnaire of readers showed that teaching and nursing were predominant occupations, due in part to both profession's discouragement of marriage. By 1971, 40% of their readership identified as a “[professional](/source/Professional).”

A significant number of readers had also been in relationships with men, with 40% having been married.[9]

Readership has been estimated to be no more than 12,000 readers per month, due in some part to its international subscribers.[5]

## See also

- [LGBTQ portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:LGBTQ)

- [Lesbian feminism](/source/Lesbian_feminism)

- [Lesbian literature](/source/Lesbian_literature)

- [List of lesbian periodicals](/source/List_of_lesbian_periodicals)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Lesbian Oral History Group, Hall Carpenter Archives. *Inventing Ourselves*, Routledge, 1989, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-415-02959-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-02959-7), p3

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Covina, Gina, ed. (1989). *The Lesbian Reader: An Amazon Quarterly Anthology* (8th printing ed.). Berkeley, California: Amazon Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9609626-0-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9609626-0-3). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [715719504](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/715719504).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Hamer, Emily (2016). "Chapter 9. Esmé Langley and Arena Three". [*Britannia's Glory: A History of Twentieth-Century Lesbians*](http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/britannias-glory-a-history-of-twentieth-century-lesbians). Bloomsbury Academic. p. 164. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5040/9781474292818.ch-009](https://doi.org/10.5040%2F9781474292818.ch-009). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4742-9280-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4742-9280-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Hubbard, Katherine A. (1 November 2021). ["Lesbian Community and Activism in Britain 1940s–1970s: An Interview with Cynthia Reid"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9970188). *Journal of Homosexuality*. **70** (4): 565–586. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/00918369.2021.1996098](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00918369.2021.1996098). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0091-8369](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0091-8369). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [9970188](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9970188). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [34723766](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34723766). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [240422804](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:240422804).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_5-1) Hamer, Emily (2016). "Chapter 9. Esmé Langley and Arena Three". [*Britannia's Glory: A History of Twentieth-Century Lesbians*](http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/britannias-glory-a-history-of-twentieth-century-lesbians). Bloomsbury Academic. p. 183. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5040/9781474292818.ch-009](https://doi.org/10.5040%2F9781474292818.ch-009). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4742-9280-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4742-9280-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Hamer, Emily (2016). "Chapter 9. Esmé Langley and Arena Three". [*Britannia's Glory: A History of Twentieth-Century Lesbians*](http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/britannias-glory-a-history-of-twentieth-century-lesbians). Bloomsbury Academic. p. 168. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5040/9781474292818.ch-009](https://doi.org/10.5040%2F9781474292818.ch-009). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4742-9280-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4742-9280-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Hamer, Emily (2016). "Chapter 10. The Politics of Lesbianism". [*Britannia's Glory: A History of Twentieth-Century Lesbians*](http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/britannias-glory-a-history-of-twentieth-century-lesbians). Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 194–198. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5040/9781474292818.ch-010](https://doi.org/10.5040%2F9781474292818.ch-010). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4742-9280-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4742-9280-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Neild, Suzanne; Pearson, Rosalind (1992). *Women Like Us*. London: The Women's Press. p. 20. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7043-4285-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7043-4285-5). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [25915815](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/25915815).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Hamer, Emily (2016). [*Britannia's Glory: A History of Twentieth-Century Lesbians*](http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/britannias-glory-a-history-of-twentieth-century-lesbians). Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 174–176. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.5040/9781474292818.ch-009](https://doi.org/10.5040%2F9781474292818.ch-009). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4742-9280-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4742-9280-1).

## External links

- [Arena Three](http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/laic/laictimeline/img/1960s/arena31966full.pdf) in [The Lesbian Archive and Information Centre Timeline](http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/laic/laictimeline/laictimeline.html)

- ['Arena Three: Trailingblazing Lesbian Magazine' in Brighton Ourstory Newsletter, Issue 3 Winter 1997](http://www.brightonourstory.co.uk/newsletters/winter97/arena.htm)

- ['Arena Three: Britain's First Lesbian Magazine' by Stepehn Dryden in British Library LGBTQ Histories](https://www.bl.uk/lgbtq-histories/articles/arena-three-britains-first-lesbian-magazine)

v t e Lesbian feminism People Paula Gunn Allen Dorothy Allison Ti-Grace Atkinson Chris Bearchell Alison Bechdel Evelyn Torton Beck Miriam Ben-Shalom Julie Bindel Ivy Bottini Charlotte Bunch Cheryl Clarke Michelle Cliff Kate Clinton Jeanne Córdova Honey Lee Cottrell Mary Daly Max Dashu Stormé DeLarverie Diane DiMassa Alix Dobkin Andrea Dworkin Elana Dykewomon Beth Elliott Lillian Faderman Ferron Marilyn Frye Michiyo Fukaya Carolyn Gage Donna Gottschalk Sarah Hoagland Karla Jay Sheila Jeffreys Jill Johnston Lenn Keller Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz Eva Kollisch Joan Larkin Anna Livia Audre Lorde Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon Cherríe Moraga Bonnie J. Morris Ruth Mountaingrove Joan Nestle Jean O'Leary Connie Panzarino Pat Parker Julia Penelope Janice Raymond Adrienne Rich Rosely Roth Margaret Sloan-Hunter Barbara Smith Billye Talmadge Cris Williamson Monique Wittig Merle Woo Bonnie Zimmerman Groups AMASONG Amazon Bookstore Cooperative Anjaree Artemis Singers Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance Bi-National Lesbian Conference Camp Sister Spirit Chicago Lesbian Liberation Coalition of African Lesbians Combahee River Collective Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres Daughters of Bilitis Daughters of Bilitis (Australia) The Feminists First Black Lesbian Conference The Furies Collective Gay Women's Alternative Gouines rouges June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives Lavender Menace Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group Lesbian Art Project Lesbian Avengers Lesbian Feminist Liberation Lesbian Herstory Archives Lesbian Movement (Denmark) Lesbian Organization of Toronto Lesbians Against Pit Closures Lesbians in Cork Lincoln Legion of Lesbians Mujeres Creando Oregon Women's Land Trust Salsa Soul Sisters Sister Spit Sisters for Homophile Equality Van Dykes Women's Liberation Center Key issues Butch Butch and femme Compulsory heterosexuality Corrective rape Dyke Feminist separatism Femme Gender-critical feminism Lesbian bed death Lesbian erasure Lesbian feminism Lesbians in Francoist Spain Lesbians in the Spanish Second Republic Lesbophobia Lipstick lesbian Political lesbianism Radical lesbianism Soft butch Stone butch Stone femme U-Haul lesbian Womyn-born womyn Womyn's land Media Books Les Guérillères (1969) Lesbian Nation (1973) Le Corps Lesbien (1973) Lover (1976) The Wanderground (1979) Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) Lesbian/Woman (1991) The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992) Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1993) Your Silence Will Not Protect You (2017) Other Die Freundin (1924–1933) Vice Versa (1947–1948) The Ladder (1956–1972) Arena Three (1963-1972) The Woman-Identified Woman (1970) Off Our Backs (1970–2008) Lavender Woman (1971–1976) Lesbian Tide (1971–1980) Dykes & Gorgons (1973–1976) Lesbian Feminist Circle (1973–1986) WomanSpirit (1974–1984) Lesbian Connection (1974–present) Conditions (1976–1990) Sinister Wisdom (1976–present) Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbians (1977–1983) Common Lives/Lesbian Lives (1980–1996) Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter (1982–1984) Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui (1982–present) Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008) Hothead Paisan (1991–1998) Diva (1994–present) Journal of Lesbian Studies (1997–present) Jane's World (1998–2018) Curve (2000–present) AfterEllen (2002–present) Velvetpark (2007–present) Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2017) Actions and ideas Cineffable Dyke march Lesbian bar Lesbian flags Lesbian literature Lesbian pulp fiction Maud's (bar) Michigan Womyn's Music Festival Motherpeace Tarot Mountain Moving Coffeehouse Olivia Records Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival Peg's Place (bar) Some Prefer Cake Women's music Women's Week Provincetown Feminism portal

This article about a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender related magazine is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. See tips for writing articles about magazines. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:LGBTQ-mag-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ALGBTQ-mag-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:LGBTQ-mag-stub)

This women's magazine–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. See tips for writing articles about magazines. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Womens-mag-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AWomens-mag-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Womens-mag-stub)

This article relating to a British magazine connected with culture is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. See tips for writing articles about magazines. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:UK-culture-mag-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AUK-culture-mag-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:UK-culture-mag-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Arena Three](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_Three) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_Three?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.