EA needs to address their anti-gay male bias in The Sims... NOW!
EA is a gaming company that often profits off the LGBT community every chance they get. However, there seems to be a very obvious bias and double standard taking place in The Sims when it comes to lesbian couples VS gay male couples...
In the Sims 3 'Roaring Heights' DLC, the very first same-sex couple in the entire franchise was introduced (Dylan & Audrey Shear). In Sims 4: Island Living, we saw the introduction of another same-sex couple (Oliana Ngata & Leila Illes). In Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle, we were introduced to not just one, but TWO new couples (Blossom & Mary Greenburg and Tina & Yasemin Tinker). All of these couples are female/female. They also all have a child.
Meanwhile, throughout the entire franchise, we've seen the addition of ONE gay male couple... Brant & Brent Hecking. They don't have a child. Not only do they lack a child, but EA decided to perpetrate a stereotype by making them a gay male couple with a "fur baby" instead! Now, I understand they were introduced with 'Cats & Dogs', so having a pet would be expected, but the lack of a son/daughter in their family is truly something that catches my eye... especially when compared to how the lesbian couples all have children.
This is extremely problematic... especially coming from a gaming company that constantly brags about how "progressive" they are for LGBT representation. Unfortunately, this is a popular trend among companies in general. They'll claim to support the LGBT community, while always taking the absolute safest route possible when it comes to representation, which ultimately ends up with a lesbian or bisexual female as the face of it.
Now, I'm not saying lesbian representation doesn't matter... however, in The Sims, there seems to be an obvious bias in favor of lesbians VS gay men.
There's a history of common bias in the media when it comes to lesbian representation VS gay male representation. If lesbians and gay men were equally discriminated against, attacked, viewed as "disgusting", etc, I would probably agree that ANY LGBT representation in this game is great, but that's not the case... generally speaking, most of society doesn't have as much of an issue with lesbians or female/female relationships as they do gay men and male/male relationships.
The fact that we've had only ONE gay male couple in the entire franchise, while having the addition of several lesbian couples, is problematic. The fact that the one and only gay male couple is also shown without a child makes it even worse. Not only is EA sending the message that lesbians are "more acceptable", but they're also perpetrating a stereotype by doing this. If Brant and Brent had a dog AND a child, it wouldn't be so bad, but this is a very obvious bias going on.
A few years ago (I can't remember the exact year), The Sims social media accounts also posted a "rainbow" image of Sims for Pride month. The lesbian couple in the picture was represented with a child... the gay male couple wasn't. Meanwhile, there's also a male/female couple shown in the same exact picture... and they're represented holding a baby:
https://i.imgur.com/08cwPNG.jpg
According to EA, lesbian and heterosexual couples are allowed to have children, but gay men should only be limited to dogs, apparently...
Also, this bias extends even back to the 1990's and early 2000's when The Sims was first announced/revealed. When The Sims was first revealed, they actually showed two female Sims kissing, which they proudly touted as "progress"... progress that would ultimately end up benefiting lesbians in future titles, while being the derailment of gay men.
Even in the "re-branding" of The Sims 4 (which can be seen at the top left corner of this site), a lesbian couple is represented in the logo. To further this, while they aren't actually in the game itself, their CAS bios (Dela Ostrow & Mia Hayes) indicate they are indeed a couple. EA could've easily used a gay male couple OR (better yet) both, but they chose not to... and based on their history, I think it's safe to say this was a conscious choice on their part.
I understand I can simply create my own same-sex couples... but that's not the point I'm making here. The Sims (and EA itself) is a franchise that constantly claims to support the LGBT community (again, often profiting off of us whenever they can). The fact that they aren't showing equal representation is problematic. They've clearly shown a bias in favor of one specific demographic in the LGBT community, while throwing scraps to the others (the more marginalized and oppressed). This isn't acceptable.
Representation matters for everyone. Including gay men. Do better, EA! Not only do we need more gay male couples in The Sims, but they should also be more diverse. This includes gay male couples with children... and no, fur babies don't count. That's a gay male stereotype.
Representation matters!
In the Sims 3 'Roaring Heights' DLC, the very first same-sex couple in the entire franchise was introduced (Dylan & Audrey Shear). In Sims 4: Island Living, we saw the introduction of another same-sex couple (Oliana Ngata & Leila Illes). In Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle, we were introduced to not just one, but TWO new couples (Blossom & Mary Greenburg and Tina & Yasemin Tinker). All of these couples are female/female. They also all have a child.
Meanwhile, throughout the entire franchise, we've seen the addition of ONE gay male couple... Brant & Brent Hecking. They don't have a child. Not only do they lack a child, but EA decided to perpetrate a stereotype by making them a gay male couple with a "fur baby" instead! Now, I understand they were introduced with 'Cats & Dogs', so having a pet would be expected, but the lack of a son/daughter in their family is truly something that catches my eye... especially when compared to how the lesbian couples all have children.
This is extremely problematic... especially coming from a gaming company that constantly brags about how "progressive" they are for LGBT representation. Unfortunately, this is a popular trend among companies in general. They'll claim to support the LGBT community, while always taking the absolute safest route possible when it comes to representation, which ultimately ends up with a lesbian or bisexual female as the face of it.
Now, I'm not saying lesbian representation doesn't matter... however, in The Sims, there seems to be an obvious bias in favor of lesbians VS gay men.
There's a history of common bias in the media when it comes to lesbian representation VS gay male representation. If lesbians and gay men were equally discriminated against, attacked, viewed as "disgusting", etc, I would probably agree that ANY LGBT representation in this game is great, but that's not the case... generally speaking, most of society doesn't have as much of an issue with lesbians or female/female relationships as they do gay men and male/male relationships.
The fact that we've had only ONE gay male couple in the entire franchise, while having the addition of several lesbian couples, is problematic. The fact that the one and only gay male couple is also shown without a child makes it even worse. Not only is EA sending the message that lesbians are "more acceptable", but they're also perpetrating a stereotype by doing this. If Brant and Brent had a dog AND a child, it wouldn't be so bad, but this is a very obvious bias going on.
A few years ago (I can't remember the exact year), The Sims social media accounts also posted a "rainbow" image of Sims for Pride month. The lesbian couple in the picture was represented with a child... the gay male couple wasn't. Meanwhile, there's also a male/female couple shown in the same exact picture... and they're represented holding a baby:
https://i.imgur.com/08cwPNG.jpg
According to EA, lesbian and heterosexual couples are allowed to have children, but gay men should only be limited to dogs, apparently...
Also, this bias extends even back to the 1990's and early 2000's when The Sims was first announced/revealed. When The Sims was first revealed, they actually showed two female Sims kissing, which they proudly touted as "progress"... progress that would ultimately end up benefiting lesbians in future titles, while being the derailment of gay men.
Even in the "re-branding" of The Sims 4 (which can be seen at the top left corner of this site), a lesbian couple is represented in the logo. To further this, while they aren't actually in the game itself, their CAS bios (Dela Ostrow & Mia Hayes) indicate they are indeed a couple. EA could've easily used a gay male couple OR (better yet) both, but they chose not to... and based on their history, I think it's safe to say this was a conscious choice on their part.
I understand I can simply create my own same-sex couples... but that's not the point I'm making here. The Sims (and EA itself) is a franchise that constantly claims to support the LGBT community (again, often profiting off of us whenever they can). The fact that they aren't showing equal representation is problematic. They've clearly shown a bias in favor of one specific demographic in the LGBT community, while throwing scraps to the others (the more marginalized and oppressed). This isn't acceptable.
Representation matters for everyone. Including gay men. Do better, EA! Not only do we need more gay male couples in The Sims, but they should also be more diverse. This includes gay male couples with children... and no, fur babies don't count. That's a gay male stereotype.
Representation matters!
