Gender
Male and Female Sims
Female and Male Sims in The Sims 3.
In all The Sims games, there are male and female Sims, who can generally be distinguished by their appearance. In general, females have breasts, larger hips, smaller shoulders and waist, and have lower muscle tone. Females also have smaller feet and hands, though this often goes unnoticed. Males lack breasts, have larger shoulders and smaller hips, and have higher muscle tone. Children and prior life stages have none of these physical differences, although most of their customization features are separate between genders.
Females also tend to have a larger clothing choice in CAS.
Differences and similarities
On the one hand, there are some minor differences between the genders in the games. The most prominent difference is that one male Sim and one female Sim are required to create a baby through in-game interactions. Also, gender-specific pronouns will often be used when describing the Sim in a pop-up or on a tag, such as those that appear for some careers, moods, and traits.
Overall, however, there are few, if any, differences between the genders. For example, the reactions of female and male Sims to the same situations appear to be equal, if they have the same personality. Also, both genders may pursue the same jobs. Whether males and females have different reactions depends on the player's gameplay options.
For any given life stage, male and female Sims have the same height. Females wearing high heels never get taller, though - they remain the same height as if they were shorter than other females not wearing high heels and males.
The Sims
In The Sims: House Party and The Sims: Hot Date, there are doors that are used exclusively by one sex, usually used for washrooms on community lots.
A male Sim stands up to use the toilet, if his Bladder score is high enough.
When a female Sim takes a shower, the game censors her breasts.
Gender does not typically affect social interactions.
The Sims 2
There are some customization features in Create a Sim that are only available to one gender. For example, only male Sims have options for facial hair.
Gender does not typically affect social interactions. For example, during a romantic interaction, the Sim who started the interaction normally assumes the pursuing role, regardless of their gender.
With the new pregnancy feature in The Sims 2, females can get pregnant through WooHoo, and males can get pregnant through alien abduction.
A male Sim stands up to use the toilet, if his Bladder score is high enough.
When a female Sim takes a shower, the game censors her breasts.
There are doors that are used exclusively by one sex, usually used for washrooms on community lots.
When a female Sim reaches her Elder stage, she loses her ability to become pregnant and thus, becomes infertile. Male elder Sims can still father children.
The Sims 3
Many gender-related aspects of The Sims 3 are similar to The Sims 2.
In The Sims 3, certain relationship labels are organized by gender. When a baby is born, they will typically be friends with both their parents, however, that will not happen if the father is part of another household or uncontrollable and thus, only friends with the mother. There is a game mechanic regarding the gender of a baby. Eating some apples while during pregnancy increases the gender offset chance of a baby boy, while eating watermelons will increase the chance of a baby girl.
In World Adventures, there are doors that are used exclusively by one sex, usually used for washrooms on community lots.
In Generations, children can restrict access to their treehouse, to children of the opposite gender.
The Sims Medieval
In The Sims Medieval, gender differences are similar to those present in The Sims 3. However, there is a new element that is not present in any of the other games in the series: when babies are born, they are friends with their mother, but they are only acquaintances with their father, unless the father is made to socialize with his offspring or if he is controllable.
Unlike the real Middle Ages, men and women are free to pursue any profession.
Gender differences in toys
There are clear gender differences in toys; some are stereotypically thought of as being for girls, and others as being for boys. Regardless, the player can choose whether to have Sims follow these stereotypes.
When Sim toddlers and children make free will choices about which toys to play with, they do not necessarily adhere to these stereotypes: girls do not necessarily pick up "girlish" toys, nor do boys necessarily pick up "boyish" toys. For example, boy toddlers and children are just as likely as girls to play with a dollhouse, a "girlish" toy.
Gender differences in NPCs
In The Sims 2, a neighborhood will usually have three NPCs of any given type, so gender equality is generally not possible. Still, for many types of NPC, the male/female ratio is always the same. For example, there are more female maids than male ones, more policemen and repairmen than policewomen and repairwomen. Nannies and social workers are always female, and butlers are always male.
In The Sims 3, there appears to be gender equality in NPC jobs: for each type of NPC, there is one male and one female.
Pets
Pets have no sexual dimorphism whatsoever, but are still referred to with gender pronouns. Female pets can get pregnant by trying for puppy/kitten/foal with a male pet.
Gender ambiguity
- See also: Category:Sims with an ambiguous gender
Some Sims and NPCs have the appearance of one gender, but are coded in the game and are treated as belonging to the opposite gender, and will often have an in-game voice associated with that gender. This ambiguity can be observed in-game with these Sims, and can be confirmed using SimPE.
Trivia
- In The Sims era (Including The Urbz: Sims in the City), the social Slap will have different animations depending on the gender. It will be a fast/hard slap for the same gender or a light/slow slap for the opposite gender. As of The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, Slap is the same for all genders.
- Using Kiss may cause a dialog for having a baby if the Sims are opposite genders[TS][TSC][TS:BO].
- Only males can use the urinal[TS:HD][TS2:NL][TS3] and pee on the wall[TU:SITC].
- In The Sims for console, the player's gender will also effect whether Mimi (Female) or Dudley (Male) will appear when he/she moves out of Mom's house.