We could live happily, freely, and gayly.Įlectronic Arts released its cover art for The Sims 4 last year which featured the first same-sex lesbian couple. On Sims, I could-and still can-live out my queer fantasies. Even now, I’m viewed as a totally straight girl to almost all of my peers, coworkers, family, and friends. I never talked about it with any of them, it’s almost as if it never happened. Queer moments with girls my age brought on feelings of shame, guilt, and confusion. Making out with a same-sex character on Sims was revolutionary for my child-brain. For those of you who don’t know, it’s called woohooing in Sims world, and in the earlier game version, it all happened on a heart-shaped vibrating bed. In Sims after school, I would move to third base with my neighborhood Sim love interest (closely modeled after a real-life crush). I wanted to run around with my shirt off playing guitar, too! But at such a tender age, in the conservative south, I never considered acting on my queerness. On the other hand, my obsession with dudes like Gavin Rossdale were because I wanted to be the disheveled rockstar, I didn’t want to kiss him. I had an Alanis Morissette poster on my wall because I wanted to have sex with her, not because I idolized her.
For me, and for many other folks, video games were an obvious option to indulge in.Īs a kid, I was never interested in boys. Whether it’s puzzles, coloring books, crafting, painting, or video games, we have all unlocked an area of our brain that’s hunkering down, investing time in a project, and watching the hours pass by. In quarantine, we all seem to be reverting back to childhood hobbies or interests. Lizzy Dening writes on iNews, “The Baby Boomer-designed world of The Sims seemed to guarantee concepts such as a ‘career ladder’ and homeownership which, two decades later, seem quaint to the majority of millennials.” Sims can catch on fire while cooking french toast, piss themselves, get robbed, and yell at you if things are in their way. You essentially play God in Sims as you instruct your avatars to use the bathroom, cook food, go to sleep, and find a job. This franchise, in all of its various expansion packs and releases, has been a constant source of entertainment for me to escape reality. The Sims was released in 2000 which means I’ve been playing Sims for 20 years. Building my dream house, making my fake family (with the occasional murder by fire), and forcing everyone to “woohoo” are some of my fondest memories.
After popping the CD into my desktop computer in my parent’s basement, hours would easily pass by, whole lives would be lived. I was ten years old when the virtual world of The Sims was released.