Proving that it’s never too late to be true to yourself, even for a precocious former child star, Tatum O’Neal has announced that she’s now dating women.
“I like women,” O’Neal tells People magazine. “I definitely have been dating mostly women recently.” The now 51-year-old actress avoids labeling her orientation and only says, “I’m not one or the other.”
She does, however, note that she currently prefers the company of females. “I think women are the most amazing creatures on earth,” she says. “They’re gentle, and also more intelligent than the men that I’ve met recently. I don’t have a steady right now, but I look forward to it.”
O’Neal won immense fame and an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her film debut in the 1973 comedy Paper Moon, in which she costarred with her father Ryan as a pair of Depression-era con artists. She soon garnered a reputation as Hollywood’s premiere wild child, hitting nightclubs with Cher and Michael Jackson before she was old enough to legally drink. In her 2004 memoir A Paper Life, O’Neal chronicled her rocky relationship with her famous father, her turbulent marriage to tennis champ John McEnroe and her long battle with drug addiction and revealed that she was molested by her father’s drug dealer when she was 12.
Among O’Neal’s other notable professional credits are a memorable episode of Sex and the City, the 1976 little league baseball comedy The Bad News Bears and the raunchy summer camp comedy Little Darlings. Kristy McNichol, who costarred with O’Neal in the latter 1980 hit, came out as lesbian in 2012.
Watch O’Neal’s character Addie pull a fast one on a cashier in Paper Moon below.
JennyFromdabloc
They’re registered at Manolo Blahnik
Grant Mealey
Well yeah…
Carlos Zuniga
Oh, lord
Samuel Kincaid
Madeline Kahn wants her Oscar back, btw.
Matthew Chaney
I thought she always had been. It seems Mr. Beaty has turned her same he did Madge. When will Annette announce her switch?
John Kuehnle
The only thing that matters is that she’s happy.
Pistolo
Somebody should research the potential bisexuality of women in relation to hormones, age, data on physical response because I actually think women are biologically more apt to be sexually fluid. Some people say it’s societal that men aren’t as bisexual or fluid as women but I wonder if it’s evolutionary. The rate of bisexual women has always been much higher than men and there are an awful lot of later-in-life revelations amongst women with bisexual proclivities.
Sometimes I wonder if the compulsion to be attracted to men in women is related to reproductive instinct and once that has run it’s course, there’s different predispositions. I remember thinking the evolutionary need for gay men (of which there are more of than lesbian women) is a been population control evolutionary instinct.
We have a lot of primal instinct that doesn’t necessarily apply to modern living- our fingers prune in water because it permits for more gripping. It’s said this was because humans at one point had more need to fetch things in water.
Masc Pride
This isn’t exactly breaking news though. She has stated this before. I’m dating a woman now too. 🙂
jason smeds
Tatum comes across as slightly anti-male. If a woman is anti-male, she’s usually also anti-gay male, anti-bisexual male etc.
All in all, I think she’s doing it for attention. Women are known to fake it for attention.
jason smeds
Pistolo,
You totally misunderstand sexuality. Only men have a true sexuality. Women do not have the true sexuality of men.
Men are more sexual than women. Therefore, men are also more bisexual than women…in the genuine sense. Sure, there are lots of women who pretend to be bi in order to impress straight guys, but these women are as fake as Photo-Shop.
You shouldn’t fall for the fake bisexuality of women. It distorts sexuality and trivializes the genuine bisexuality of men.
Curty
If someone has sex or dates both genders than they are bisexual. If someone is attracted to both sexes than they are bisexual. What’s up with this anti label shit. I find most people who don’t want to be labeled with their sexual orientation, have a problem or conflict with their sexuality. I Curty since 16 when I fully discovered my sexuality have only been with men. Doing my childhood I thought I liked girls and wanted them physically but I discovered at 16 when I had my first boyfriend… that I wanted men sexually and for romantic companionship. Label Gay all you want. I have no conflict with being labeled gay. There. There is no such thing as experimenting.. If you are aroused, you like what you like be it man or woman or both and nothing can change that.
Pistolo
@Curty: I agree. I tend to think people who “don’t wanna label it” have some kind of complex. Nobody is holding you down and stamping your forehead- you IDENTIFY with the label. I identify with homosexuality, it reflects my sexuality, and I use the word to articulate the nature of my sexuality to others…it’s the essence of language and communication.
It’s insulting to say “Oh you’re just being shepherded by societal labels”, no, I fought for this in a society telling me to be STRAIGHT at all costs.
jason smeds
The problem with labels is that it is often another person who puts the label on you. It’s about another person owning your label. Once they own your label, they own you.
I don’t have a problem with self-labels if they are used in a limited sense. However, when you become all about labels, it’s de-humanizing. It also creates a marketing scheme which can be very dishonest and misleading.
How you market yourself sexually is an important feature of women because women can Photo-Shop their sexuality without having to prove whether they are telling the truth or not.
Masc Pride
@Pistolo: It’s definitely true that women can be more openly bisexual because it’s more socially acceptable. Same sex interaction for women, particularly when a man is involved, isn’t viewed as an automatic assault on their femininity. For two guys, the popular idea is that one or both of them have compromised their masculinity. I think guys can actually be just as open when it comes to thinking other guys are attractive, checking each others bodies out (mostly competitively) or having “man crushes”, but when it comes down to the actual sex acts, that seems to be where any interest starts to wane. I don’t think that’s necessarily because of society. If you think about the ways we have sex with each other, gay sex can be somewhat of an acquired taste. I know hetero guys that find the idea of anal sex repulsive.
@jason smeds: I’ve been with women that had sex drives like men. I’ve also had threesomes with girls that were very aggressive with each other, handling each other almost in the same manner a man would. Women are more relationship-oriented, but IME they’re pretty much the same as guys sexually.
Curty
Masc pride please shut up about masculinity. Every comment you make is always about some masculinity… what do you have a M.D. on masculinity? Alot of guys get it on without trying to prove who is more masculine then each other… what the hell do you know? Oh you have fucked women… good for you… you are so masc for fucking women… smh
Masc Pride
@Curty: And likewise, so you pledged your allegiance to c0ck at 16…whoopty doo! Congrats on being such a model homosexual. Pistolo’s comment was about social acceptance for female bisexuality being a reason for women being more open about it than men. I clearly said “the popular idea”, not MY idea. Your issues are showing again.
scotshot
@Masc Pride:
I know hetero guys who love a little butt play. I know gay guys who find the idea of anal sex not to their liking. So what.
Saint Law
@jason smeds: The decayed old fruit behind the ‘jason meds’ profiles declares every woman – any woman – attention seeking.
However if they’re receiving it, then, by definition, they’re not seeking.
Certainly not in the way you do, deary, hanging around every pissoir in the sterile hope someone might be demoralised enough to let you suck ’em.
So far as sexuality goes, if anything a woman’s libido is stronger than a man’s. certainly her orgasmic capacity is much greater.
It’s sad you’re impotent an’ all, but venting on the fairer sex only makes you more so.
jwtraveler
@jason smeds: If ever find that I’m starting to understand your “thoughts”, I will be very worried about myself. So far I’m in absolutely no danger.
DarkZephyr
“I think women are the most amazing creatures on earth,” she says. “They’re gentle, and also more intelligent than the men that I’ve met recently. I don’t have a steady right now, but I look forward to it.”
I wonder what would happen if a famous man said that with the pronouns switched. I wonder how people would react.
Paul Whitten
Who cares who she dates…it is her business…not ours!
jayj150
Good for her, but I wish more bisexual people would own to their bisexuality instead of hiding behind the “I don’t like labels” BS. There’s nothing wrong with being bi, I wish more bi people would accept that. Bi people love to blame gay folks for “bi erasure”, but for the most part they have only themselves to blame.
James Wilbanks
Such a surprise !!
Pistolo
@jayj150: Not to mention this whole “not accepted by either community” is bull. Half-straight is more socially acceptable than fully gay. You still have at least a 50% shot at being able to be accepted.
Masc Pride
@jayj150: I think the whole “bi erasure” thing stems more from the fact the always makes a point to claim the “B”, but rarely gives it much run time or focus. One of the reasons I was actually pleasantly surprised by Logo’s Cucumber show is because it has a bisexual main character that actively dates both women and men, which is a first TMK. I think more bi visibility is coming around, but bisexuals have been the most underrepresented part of the community. Contrary to what Pistolo is saying, there still isn’t a whole lot of social acceptance on either side, especially for bisexual men. Gay men can be very hostile, judgmental and tend feel totally entitled to criticize authenticity (but will get very sensitive if someone does it to them), while there tends to be a lot of misunderstanding from heteros. Neither side is all that accepting or understanding.
I’m fine with wearing the bisexual label, but I think that people that don’t want to shouldn’t be forced to or criticized for not wanting to be boxed in. Labels can be limiting, and some people are just more free-spirited than labels allow.
Masc Pride
*stems more from the fact the community always makes a point to claim the “B”…
jason smeds
Dark Zephyr,
You make an interesting point about the double standard. If the pronouns were male, I doubt that People would have reported it.
Bob LaBlah
Considering how both of them (Ryan and Tatum) turned out I wonder if either were really “acting” in this movie. I can’t remember her name but I know that cashier was in Hello Dolly and looks as though she walked right off of that set and onto this in the same character.
Good luck honey (Tatum). I wasn’t exactly a saint in my younger days either.
Clark35
So why doesn’t she just come out as bisexual then?
Clark35
@jayj150: I’m out as bisexual and so are most bisexual people I know. However it doesn’t help when you have media wh0res like Dan Savage and other gay men and lesbian women in the media who are biphobic and who do practise bisexual erasure.