How I Became a (Simulated) Lesbian...

A few weeks ago - not sure of the exact date now but it wasn't more than a few weeks - I received a Facebook (FB) invite from my friend Leigh to play the FB version of The Sims.

Now, unless you have been living under a rock for the past 15 years or so, you probably know that The Sims is a popular series of computer/console games published by Electronic Arts that allows you to create little human-like avatars and be responsible for their happiness, career, health and even (PG or PG-13) sex lives. (I have never owned or played the full version of this series, but I understand that in it, your Sims age, get sick and even pass on after a while.)

Because I like interacting with Leigh on Facebook, and because I don't really want to spend $39.99 on the REAL game, I accepted the invite, thinking (logically) that I'd be able to choose my Sim's gender, personality, physical attributes and clothing. And since I'm a straight man in my late 40s, I figured my avatar would be, at the very least, male.

Boy, was this assumption wrong! The game, in its infinite (digital) wisdom, chose to give me a female avatar instead! According to The Sims Social (the name of the game on Facebook), I'm a cute young woman named Jennifer Lewis; I have brown hair and brown eyes (traits that I share), wear glasses (which I also wear from time to time) and have a romantic and artistic personality.

In my younger days, I probably would have gotten a mite pissed off. After all, I am a heterosexual guy and in almost all of the other games I've owned or played I've had male identities. (One exception: In Sid Meier's Civilization IV I have had to assume the role of Queens Hasheteput of Egypt and Isabella of Spain.) Back when I was in my 20s or even early 30s, I probably would have chosen not to play The Sims Social if I couldn't change genders.

To be honest, I really wasn't enthused about being "Jennifer" and did look for an option in the setup to switch my avatar's gender to match mine. But when I saw that there wasn't, I realized I had two choices: (a) not play the game at all or (b) accept the situation gracefully and say, 10 times slowly, "It's only a silly digitized avatar."

There was one nod to my personality in real life: I like women (in general and in romantic terms), so if I have to play the game as a simulated woman, my avatar is going to like women too. I'm not homophobic, and I have many gay friends (of both sexes), but I prefer to do my flirting, virtual and otherwise, with women. (Besides, I don't know how some of my male neighbors in Sims Social would react if "Jennifer" sent them a dating request, knowing full well that I'm a man in real life.)

So, instead of being a laid-back, creative dude with a knack for writing and an eye for the ladies, on Sims Social I'm a laid-back, creative lipstick lesbian with an eye for the ladies....

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