Australian World in Sims 4 Outback Living

"crocobaura;c-17935291" wrote:

"GrimlyFiendish;c-17935283" wrote:
Sims could purchase and learn to play the digeridoo; however, female sims would be required to friend an indigenous vendor/cultural centre worker first and ask permission before playing the instrument (depending on the taboos of different indigenous nations). Female sims who do have permission to play a digeridoo, beyond just a quick 'try out' during a festival or as a cultural learning experience, would then unlock a digeridoo with a specific totem or pattern on it that indicates to people that it is okay for her to be playing this instrument. Playing a digeridoo that is not marked with a 'permission' sign would cause other sims in the area to react negatively.

That's discriminatory behavior, isn't it?

Some indigenous peoples in Australia have a strict taboo around women playing the digeridoo, although not all of the groups, and it does vary as to how strictly the taboo is treated in those groups for which it is an issue - it is enough of an issue; however, that it can be deeply offensive and upsetting to Indigenous Australians. Discriminatory from our (non indigenous) point of view? Yes, but this is a potentially a highly sensitive cultural issue.

If the Sims team were to include indigenous Australian representation in the game, I think they would definitely need to consult with indigenous elders & spokespeople for the different groups in order to properly understand how to present indigenous culture in a properly respectful manner.

Another potential issue, for example, could be with indigenous Sims who pass away. There are a lot of customs, rules and taboos around death and dying in indigenous Australian groups. So would you need to be mindful of that? Should the deceased indigenous Sim not return as a ghost, and all images of them in the game be removed? If the deceased's name still appears should the game change it to a bereavement term (placeholder name for the time when the deceased's name isn't spoken)? This is the sort of stuff I would expect Sims developers to have to seriously look into if they were going to include indigenous peoples in the game, or else face a potential backlash that could possibly be worse than the Snowy Living/Japanese shrines criticism of cultural insensitivity.