Jodie Foster's privacy policy under public scrutiny

A very interesting article ran recently in More magazine about Jodie Foster (whose new movie, The Brave One, looks like a marginally classier Ms. 45), including an interview that felt kind of like a "glass closet" version of "Who's on First?":

Let's talk about your ring.
This one? [Proffers left hand] It's Tiffany, an eternity ring.
You're wearing it on your wedding ring finger.
I am. I've always worn a ring. Even taking photos. Even on magazine covers. I don't take it off.
Don't you think wearing a ring like that raises questions?
Well, but that's my life. ... My life is my life. I'm not going to change my life for anybody. I just don't talk about my dad, my health, who I voted for or what I think of the death penalty because that would be trivializing my life, selling it for a magazine. I don't have any problems with anybody reporting on my life. It's just that I'm not going to bring my family into that. The number-one reason for that is: Why would I invite — encourage — more people to sit outside my door and wait for my children to go to school? I don't have any desire to participate in it.

While Jodie goes further than most gay-but-not-gay celebs in discussing-but-not-discussing her sexuality, it's still a fascinating balancing act, and one that's becoming increasingly less appreciated. Our sister site, AfterEllen.com, noted the oddness in the fact that while Foster wears a wedding ring and her children share her partner's last name, Foster won't actually say that she's married or has a partner.

Or as Michael Musto notes in his recent column (note: corrected from original post):

"Speaking of gay problems, for years we've given Jodie Foster kudos for at least never saying, "I'm straight, world." But by now her weird closet dance has gotten too ugly for TV, with her giving interviews about how she craves privacy, though she'll then press into elaborate detail about what it's like as the parent of two wonderful, growing boys. (The single parent, the way she tells it. When a tape recorder's on, her partner stays invisible and unspeakable.) In More magazine, Jodie explains, "I just don't talk about my health, my dad, who I voted for, or what I think of the death penalty, because that would be trivializing my life, selling it for a magazine." So lesbianism is so dirty it even stays off the list of taboo subjects. That's closeted!"

it's interesting that there aren't any partnered men on the whole "glass closet" list that are in the same boat as Foster when it comes to keeping a family out of the discussion (most are single or not nearly as high in profile, and none have children, to my knowledge). I guess it's a lot easier to hide a single person in the closet with you than a whole clan; will the continued rise in same-sex families with children "up the ante" in terms of gay celebs who want both a family and their "privacy"?