Conservatives Are Finding Sims 4 a Bit Too Real
An update to the video game allows for the creation of Sims with top surgery scars, as well as wearables including common items used by trans people such as binders and shapewear.
by Evan Urquhart
Ever on the lookout for a new thing to feel outraged over, conservatives have alit on a new update for the Sims 4 video game which increases the ways a Sims character can be made to look trans. The game, which already allows a huge range of ways to customize its characters, has added binders, shapewear, and top surgery scars. This is a problem for conservative media which have a problem with anything to do with trans people, always, every time.
In their coverage of the story, Fox News continued their practice of amplifing voices associated with white nationalism and extremist violence. Those mentioned included former Trump advisor Stephen Miller who has close ties to white nationalism, and Libs of TikTok, a Twitter account whose targeting of LGBTQ+ events regularly results in their being targeted for violence by white nationalist militia groups, as well as Ian Miles Cheong, a Malaysian Twitter personality who functions similarly to Libs of TikTok in his relationship to extremist groups.
screenshot from Fox News
Adding a scar to your customizable video game character is not new, and it hasn’t typically been treated as scandalous, or dangerous. For example, giving commander Shepherd a scar on her cannonically female eyebrow has never been interpreted as a promotion of kids being knifed in the face. Similarly, the update is also adding medical wearables such as hearing aids, and conservatives aren’t whining that it’s promoting hearing loss. Any normal person would understand that, likewise, having a customizable character with a top surgery scar is a reflection of the fact that, in the real world, some people have top surgery scars. Nothing more nor less.
As usual, the right wing media, and right wing social media users, are scraping for whatever thin gruel they can find to feed the constant hunger on the right for anti-trans hate.