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. On a purely cosmetic level, 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 do not have any of these physical differences, but each life stage tends to have customization features that are separate between genders.

A statue of a female Sim.

Differences and similarities

The most prominent difference is that one male Sim and one female Sim are required to create a baby through in-game interactions. Gender-specific pronouns will also often be used when describing the Sim in a pop-up or on a tag, such as those that appear for some careers, moods, moodlets, and traits.

Overall, however, there are very few differences between the genders. For example, female and male Sims who have the same personality or traits generally have the same reactions to the same situations, though some games may have gameplay options which can affect this. Both genders may pursue the same jobs, though some jobs have slightly different names for males and females.

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 males and other females not wearing high heels.

The Sims

In The Sims: House Party and The Sims: Hot Date, there are doors that are used exclusively by one sex. They are usually used for washrooms on community lots, but can be placed on residential lots. These doors were not carried forward into subsequent expansion packs.

Gender does not typically affect social interactions. However, a Sim cannot propose marriage unless the Sim being proposed to is of the opposite gender. A Sim can ask a same-sex friend or lover to move in, but cannot ask an opposite-sex friend to move in. Still, the gender of the two Sims only affects the interaction and animations. No matter which interaction is used, the result of moving a Sim in is exactly the same.

The Sims 2

There are some customization features in Create a Sim and change appearance 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. When Sims marry, the couple takes the last name of the Sim who proposed marriage. However, whether the relationship is referred to as a marriage or a joined union depends on whether the two Sims are of opposite genders or the same gender.

With the new pregnancy feature in The Sims 2, females can get pregnant through WooHoo, and males can get pregnant through alien abduction.

There are doors that are used exclusively by one sex. They are usually used for washrooms on community lots, but some community lots that sell clothes use them to make single-sex changing rooms. They can be placed on residential lots.

When a female Sim reaches her elder stage, she loses her ability to become pregnant, and thus becomes infertile. Male elder Sims are also unable to become pregnant through alien abduction, although they can still father children.

The Sims 3

Female and Male Alien Sims.

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 chance of a baby boy, while eating watermelons will increase the chance of a baby girl.

World Adventures introduced doors that are used exclusively by one sex. It is likely that these doors were originally present in the the base game, but were not enabled. These doors are usually used for washrooms on community lots. Unlike earlier games, they are not available on residential lots.

Unlike previous games, all Sims can have the same marriage regardless of the genders of the Sims in a couple.

In Generations, children can restrict access to their treehouse, so that children of the opposite gender cannot enter.

In Seasons, male Sims who are young adult or older can become impregnated through alien abduction. As in The Sims 2, this does not happen to females. Unlike The Sims 2, this is not treated as a true pregnancy, and uses different gameplay mechanics than a true pregnancy

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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. However, female Sims will not be given maternity leave if they become pregnant. This can be slightly problematic if they're in a particularly "dangerous" profession such as Knight or Spy, as those roles often have responsibilities that pregnant Sims are unable to perform.

For the first time in the series, mothers are capable of breastfeeding their babies.

Gender differences in toys

While the games contain some toys that have been stereotypically thought of as being for girls or for boys, the toys themselves can be used by either gender. When making free will choices about which toys to play with, Sim toddlers and children do not necessarily adhere to gender stereotypes, and do not appear to consider them. Regardless of whether a toy is stereotypically seen as "girlish" (e.g. a dollhouse) or "boyish" (e.g. a car), boys and girls are equally likely to play with it.

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. Unlike human Sims they do not have different customization features. 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 and fixed 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.
• Only males can use the urinal and pee on the wall.
• 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.
• Female Sims usually have a larger clothing selection in CAS than male Sims. 
• In The Sims for console, the player's gender will effect whether Mimi (Female) or Dudley (Male) will appear when he/she moves out of Mom's house. In The Sims: Bustin' Out, gender will affect which premade Sims in Bust Out Mode can be controlled.