Sims Avatars Will No Longer Be Oppressed by Gender Normative Clothing Choices

The Sims

The Sims 4 just got a lot more inclusive. On June 2, the company announced that it was doing away with the game’s previous restrictions on clothing, body types, tone of voice, and gait style in its customization options, meaning that your Sims don’t need to be held down by society’s limited view of gender expression anymore. Previously, Sims were separated into gender and age categories, and their clothing and physical characteristics were divided along those initial characterizations. 

Now, as Ars Technica reports, Sims can wear heels or suits whether they are male or female. Lady Sims can have short haircuts, and male Sims can wear long, flowing tresses. 

“The Sims is made by a diverse team for a diverse audience, and it's really important to us that players are able to be creative and express themselves through our games,” the company wrote in a statement on the change. “We want to make sure players can create characters they can identify with or relate to through powerful tools that give them influence over a Sims gender, age, ethnicity, body type and more.”

Given that many video game characters still rely on stereotypes, especially for female characters [PDF], it’s a welcome change to be able to play a game that gives players the option of designing characters that reflect the real-life diversity in people's bodies and personal style preferences. 

[h/t Ars Technica]