Female here. I was just as likely to be found playing video games with my dad and little brother as I was playing barbie dolls, also with my brother. Our first console was the Sega Genesis and we would spend hours taking turns playing Sonic, Mrs. Pac-man and the original Mortal Kombat. We eventually moved on to ps1/ps2 where our games of choice Gauntlet, Tomb Raider, Bust-A-Groove, WWE Wrestling games, Crash Bandicoot, Kingdom Hearts, and many others. My brother would also play dolls with me and we had just as much fun doing that as playing video games.
I started to play the sims because it combined my love of video games with my love of dolls so I kinda see the argument of it being a virtual dollhouse and don't find it inaccurate. I love playing the game but my favorite thing to do is to make sims in CAS. Both my dad and brother love making sims as well but while my brother will play for a little while, my dad will stop there and not play the game at all. So I don't really think its a gender thing just personal preference.
