Cherry Grrl: Stephanie Reibel Explores Bisexuality - Onscreen and Off
from Cherry Grrl: Fresh Picks of Lesbian Entertainment, News & Culture posted January 4th 2010
We have to admit it . . . When Cherry Grrl: was first introduced to the new webseries "Rose By Any Other Name . . .", we were cynical. With so many fantastic shows out there that focus solely on the lesbian community, finding the motivation to watch a “bisexual” series that co-starred and was written and directed by a man (Kyle Schickner) wasn’t easy.
Fully prepared to find lesbian stereotypes exploited and heterosexuality romanticized, we nonetheless began watching the episodes. It didn’t take long, however, for us to realize that judging this project before learning more about it was foolish and a little bit discriminatory. It turns out that "Rose By Any Other Name . . ." is a clever, heartwarming and skillfully acted new series that demonstrates the fact that a man (Schickner) can write women (lesbian women, no less) very, very well.
His characters (male and female) are realistic, well developed, and all extremely appealing. Schickner (who is a bisexual rights activist and filmmaker who focuses on entertainment for women and sexual and ethnic minorities) plays Anthony - a man who happened to meet and click with a lesbian named Rose (Stephanie Reibel). As the story develops, we see her friends (a likeable group of out and proud grrls) react to Rose’s newfound bisexuality and his friends (a harmless and playful gang of co-workers) attempt to help him in the ways of dating a lesbian.
It seems, so far, that this is a project that truly seeks to point out that no matter our sexualities, dating, friends, and relationships are universally complicated and our paths to finding love refreshingly similar. Reibel, in particular, realized this when she recently became interested in the same sex for the first time. Like her character, she went from considering herself to be on one end of the sexuality spectrum to somewhere more in the middle. And, like Rose, she is finding that it’s really not that big of a deal - that it’s the person, not the gender, that matters.
Click Here to rea more as Cherry Grrl learns more about Reibel, her thoughts on playing Rose and why she loves her lesbian fans.
Click to watch the series "Rose By Any Other Name . . . and visit the show’s Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter. Stephanie Reibel's fans will be interested to know that she is also appearing on the new FOX show Sons of Tucson as “Kathy” beginning early 2010. And you can find her hosting the live weekly show “So You Think You Can Sing?” on Wednesday evening at Girl Bar in LA (Girl Bar Productions also produces "Rose By Any Other Name . . .).
We have to admit it . . . When Cherry Grrl: was first introduced to the new webseries "Rose By Any Other Name . . .", we were cynical. With so many fantastic shows out there that focus solely on the lesbian community, finding the motivation to watch a “bisexual” series that co-starred and was written and directed by a man (Kyle Schickner) wasn’t easy.
Fully prepared to find lesbian stereotypes exploited and heterosexuality romanticized, we nonetheless began watching the episodes. It didn’t take long, however, for us to realize that judging this project before learning more about it was foolish and a little bit discriminatory. It turns out that "Rose By Any Other Name . . ." is a clever, heartwarming and skillfully acted new series that demonstrates the fact that a man (Schickner) can write women (lesbian women, no less) very, very well.
His characters (male and female) are realistic, well developed, and all extremely appealing. Schickner (who is a bisexual rights activist and filmmaker who focuses on entertainment for women and sexual and ethnic minorities) plays Anthony - a man who happened to meet and click with a lesbian named Rose (Stephanie Reibel). As the story develops, we see her friends (a likeable group of out and proud grrls) react to Rose’s newfound bisexuality and his friends (a harmless and playful gang of co-workers) attempt to help him in the ways of dating a lesbian.
It seems, so far, that this is a project that truly seeks to point out that no matter our sexualities, dating, friends, and relationships are universally complicated and our paths to finding love refreshingly similar. Reibel, in particular, realized this when she recently became interested in the same sex for the first time. Like her character, she went from considering herself to be on one end of the sexuality spectrum to somewhere more in the middle. And, like Rose, she is finding that it’s really not that big of a deal - that it’s the person, not the gender, that matters.
Click Here to rea more as Cherry Grrl learns more about Reibel, her thoughts on playing Rose and why she loves her lesbian fans.
Click to watch the series "Rose By Any Other Name . . . and visit the show’s Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter. Stephanie Reibel's fans will be interested to know that she is also appearing on the new FOX show Sons of Tucson as “Kathy” beginning early 2010. And you can find her hosting the live weekly show “So You Think You Can Sing?” on Wednesday evening at Girl Bar in LA (Girl Bar Productions also produces "Rose By Any Other Name . . .).