While I don't play rotationally, out of the 5 generations I've played in my current save (All in Oasis Springs), the first two had the male with higher cooking than the female. One generation doesn't count because she had the cooking aspiration, and the current one is in a lesbian relationship.
Usually whichever sim has a less time-consuming job (or can get through their work from home tasks faster) has cooking duties. If this is more often the female sim, that's usually a side effect of her being the one I want to work out a story for, as I tend to pick one "main" sim to focus on (the Heir, if you will) and that sim is usually female.
The thing is, I like to cook, so my "main" sims often get my liking to cook too. As I play generationally, I also start when they're teenagers - though all the teens get a turn at cooking, even if only once or twice on the grill. Sims who marry into the household (usually, but not always, male) don't usually have that foundation of skills, and I tend to roll with what their traits imply. A foodie sim will be sent to cook more often, as will a vegetarian sim so I can make sure the dishes are suitable for them.
Now, in my current generation, the "main" female sim is not big on the domestic stuff, while her girlfriend came with the Foodie trait and Superparent aspiration when I brought her into the house, so I ran with it and she's the one working on her cooking skill and parenting.
Last 4 times I have let my male sims to cook, there was a fire
So most likely I won't get any points in this one
And currently playing mostly with vampires, so not that much use for cooking
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
well I haven't actually got that many played households yet and ones i have might not even count for these rules but:
1. main family in forgotten hollow:
female sim has 10 cooking skill, but also she is super sim so she has most skills maxed out by now and well her husband is vampire so he doesnt really need food to begin with
as for actual food she often just casts spells tho since she is spellcaster and all
2. family in newcrest that is last couples daughter and bob pancakes
Bob does all the cooking he is level 10
has maxed out baking and gourmet cooking as well
the wife...mostly gained her few skill points watching cooking tv with him can do some food without burning house down if she really needed to tho
3. malcolm landgraab and eliza also in newcrest...
literally will not cook themselves they always get caterer or order food or eat out or something but for feeding the toddlers its almost always malcolm cause eliza is too busy living that bling life
no idea what that means for points but lmao thats only played couples i have atm
Overall:
I don't really feel like i have preference for who is doing the kitchen duty
its usually just whoever has the time and who is most interested in food in general
Interesting discussion.
My sims level the cooking skill based on who goes in to cook first, who seems to like to cook more or who has more talent at it (aka doesn't try to burn the house down or poison anyone).
Bergman in Oasis Springs 1
Bergman in Sulani 1
Mercer in Willow Creek 1
Butler in Willow Creek 1
Waterfield Sulani 1
I don't even have to look. Cooking, handiness, and Parenting are three things that all my sims level up as soon as they can start. I hate it when sims catch the stove on fire with their ineptitude This mirrors my own life wherein my husband and I share all the matters concerning the household. We both work, cook, clean, etc. I take care of the bills, taxes, etc. He keeps the cars on the road.
My households tend to live traditional roles, but not strictly. I try to have all my sims achieve at least 3 levels of cooking and handiness. Laundry and gardening types of domestic skills are done by whoever's available. All my current households are fairly new because I just started playing Sims 4 a few months ago. One of my households (Willow Creek) just hired a butler, so I won't count them. I don't have a family in Oasis Springs.
Sulani--Mazey: Cooking 1, Russell: Cooking 2 = 1 point
Windenburg--Camryn: Cooking 7, Aaron: Cooking 2 (I started with Camryn and added Aaron later.) = 0 points
Willow Creek:
Shane: Doesn't count because one has a food-related aspiration.
Gary: One point.
Curtis: Zero points. Doesn't count because one had the grilled cheese aspiration.
Smith: Zero points.
Friend: Zero points.
Holland: One point.
Renfield: One point.
Oasis Springs:
Savea: One point.
So final tally: four men and three women. Actually, four men and two women. I forgot one had that grilled cheese aspiration.
I was actually surprised by how many of my men are the cooks, because my save is mid-20th century influenced, and Willow Creek is one of my most conservative neighborhoods. It was also interesting to notice how few couples I have in Oasis Springs. I guess it's my swinging singles community, lol.
In my main household (in Strangerville), the man is always the cook.
It would be interesting to see a survey of how many Sim couples take the man's last name vs. the woman's last name.
Oasis Springs, Stein = 0
Oasis Springs, Zest/Ojo = 0 He 5, She 6... so close!
Willow Creek, Reed snr. = 0
Willow Creek, Chen/Egwu = 0
Willow Creeke Snyde-Rendall = 0 Both 7... I was almost there
This was difficult to do. It seems that currently I don't have many actively played hetero couples that live together. I wish I could include my first TS4 couple, Alaina and Terry, because they were both avid cookers, but they are gone and I don't remember their skills. It would have been fun to see which one of them cooked more.
Anyway, I found 4 couples, but perhaps none of them really qualify for the survey.
Mathilde level 7, Karim level 5 (Strangerville) = 0
Mathilde has a food related aspiration, but I haven't focused on her aspiration at all. Karim joined the household a bit later. I have no cooking preferences with them, the one who is free cooks. It's interesting to see Mathilde has cooked more. They are cowplant farmers with twin daughters. Karim paints and knits, Mathilde repairs broken things. Both of them fish.
Layla level 4, Makoa level 3 (Sulani) = 0
They haven't lived together for long and I had played Layla more than Makoa. Currently they live in Makoa's tent. I should build them a home, but haven't wanted to focus on it or them yet.
Morgan level 4, Ilias level 7 +gourmet cooking 2 (Windenburg) = 1
They just moved in together and before they did I had played Ilias more than Morgan. I had no idea Ilias is such a good cook!
Teacup level 3, Ariel level 3 (Windenburg) = tie
They also just moved in together. I wonder which one of them will cook since neither of them is really into it. Teacup knows the food spell so perhaps she'll use it
I think that usually the one who cooks is a sim who isn't busy doing anything else, unless there are sims with a particular liking for cooking, such as a trait or preference that I decided.
I scored a big, fat '0', though there are nearly two ties!
Here is the breakdown...and I included their careers, just to show my females are not just there to look after their significant other!
My couple in Sulani
Cooking level: male is 10 / female is 10 (both are in different branches of the conservationist career)
My couple in Brindleton Bay
Cooking level: male is 9 (mechanical engineer) / female is 10 (scientist)
My couple in San Myshuno
Cooking level: male is 6 (detective) / female is 10 (doctor)
My couple in Mt Komorebi
Cooking level: male is 4 (part-time fisherman) / female is 10 (part-time retail + etsy seller)
My occult couple in Glimmerbrook
Cooking level: vampire male is 3 (unemployed, lottery winner) / spellcaster female is 10 ('self-employed' - money is made from her garden, flower arranging, potions and she is also an amateur writer). And to be fair, my spellcaster acquired wealth through her own merits, and had surpassed a million simoleons herself, before marrying someone who happened to win the lottery!
This was a great question by the OP! I think I do tend to get stuck in traditional roles and stereotypes, so I would definitely keep this in mind and try something new and different with new households.
Honestly for me it really depends on the sim in question. I mostly level them based on their interests and class/job requirements, so I tend to send the sim with the highest level in the task to do it regardless what gender the sim is. Once the sim is maxed in that skill, I'll start leveling other useful skills on that sim. So if that means that the male sim is the family cook and the female sim is the repair person, then that's just how it worked out for that particular family.
My score is 0 – lol. Usually when I'm playing with a family, the male Sim goes to work while I enjoy playing with my homemaker female Sim. My female Sim typically does the cooking. Yet, when my male Sim is being romantic 🥰, he'll cook his lady a meal.
To be fair, even though I only got 1/5 points in the cooking area, my female sims all have careers. Currently, Rachel owns a vet clinic and is a master vet herself. Esadora is a musician and entertainer. Claire is investigating the Strangerville mystery. Mazey is a witch and magic merchant. Lanette is working to become a Paranormal Investigator, and Camryn is a teen with A+ grades and an aspiration to become a museum curator.
So yah, the women may cook a little more than their male partners, but guys and gals all clean toilets and wash dishes equally. And they all follow their dreams.
Wow, thanks for contributing to the thread everyone! I had fun reading all your surveys, and I found that several of you got a bit surprised by what you found. I'm not thinking that it is "wrong in old fashioned manners" that our female sims are better at cooking. And it would be fun checking on skills like handiness and parenting as well (would probably be a tad more massive for a quick check though). Like some stated, also females following their career dream were best at cooking.
It makes me wonder if it is very hard to avoid these stereotypes in a life simulating game. I assume there are many parameters summing up through life, feeling a bit minor along the road, but perhaps strengthening the "females do better in the kitchen" pattern. Perhaps young girls do get more attached to mom and boys to dad, which would not be a surprise psychologically and cultural. Perhaps females get a "cooking boost" when they have kids, perhaps there are other patterns making mom respond to a toddler's need for food quicker than the dad? Even if the mom is a Lawyer and dad is a stay home. We know that the chance is bigger for automatic actions is higher if they already have just 1 related skill point. Perhaps a teen daughter is more likely to serve a meal than her brother is, because she already got that 1 skill point somehow, by copying mom?
In my game there are females living a very traditional life, but I also have those focusing on their career, and those not even wanting to start their own family. I also have a few noble houses and I'm pretty sure that even when there is a live-in Cook, the duchess will have higher cooking skills than the duke. Weird, really, as my duchesses hardly have access to the kitchen section.
I only have one "formally established male/female couple" in Willow Creek, and I think both of them have maxed their cooking skill already. I have 3 other couples in the game, and most of them are the same. One exception is the astronaut. He lives with both his ex-girlfriend and his new girlfriend. The ex is maxed in cooking, but I think his new girlfriend has lower cooking skills. (Why should she cook, when her boyfriend and his ex are so good at it, right? Anyway, that's how she thinks. She seems kinda lazy, even though she doesn't have that trait.)
A lot of my couples are same sex, but out of the hetero pairings I have in my game I'd have to say exactly none of them are played with traditional gender roles.
House 1 - Brindleton Bay
Husband and Wife both maxed for cooking, gourmet cooking, and baking. I'm more likely to send the guy into the kitchen, because he seems to enjoy cooking more & it leaves his wife time to pursue her creative interests such as art and music. In this household the husband does more of the child rearing as well, again because he seems to gravitate more towards it.
So 1 point, I guess?
House 2 - Brindleton Bay
Husband has a higher cooking level than his wife. I'm more likely to send him into the kitchen so that she can get on with career and aspiration stuff. Having said that the household also tends to work on a rotational basis, so if I feel like I want to get a particular Sims cooking level up, or it's their partner's turn to do career and aspiration stuff, then I'll have a different Sim cook regardless of gender.
1 point.
House 3 - San Myshuno
Husband's cooking skill level is higher, and I'm more likely to have him cook. Division of cooking is pretty much the same as for Household 2, husband cooks when the wife has career or aspiration stuff to work on, I will have her cook when I want to get her skill level up or her husband needs to work on career and aspiration stuff at that time.
1 point.
House 4 - San Myshuno (2 couples)
Both male partners have higher cooking skill levels, and are more likely to be the ones who do the cooking. Again though, same as for House 2 and 3 this is dependant on what the needs of each individual Sim is at any given time. If the female sims have career and aspiration stuff to work on, or I want to level up their skill, then the men cook and vice versa.
2 points (1 point per couple)
House 5 - Windenburg
Husband has a higher cooking skill level than the wife, and I am more likely to have him cook so that his wife can concentrate on her career and aspiration needs. He has maxed out career levels & aspiration, so in this case unless I want her to level up a skill he cooks for the household almost exclusively.
1 point.
Occult Simmer (All Occult All The Time)
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
Interesting question. I’ll check my game and come back to update. But I’m curious why the families have to be in those 2 worlds in particular.
I assumed it was so we wouldn't select the sims for this challenge but rather pick the firts ones that come. I had 6 suitable couples in those world so I left out the one that was marked unplayed (I have played them though).
I've enjoyed reading people's explanations of their couples and their habits. They tell even more than just the skill points. Wish I had written some insights too, but then I don't feel like going back at this point.
On the surface, my main household appears traditional too. The male is way worse at cooking, but that's partly because he doesn't eat human food... and I intentionally play him as a bit of a patriarchal jerk. But he often takes the lead with certain aspects of parenting because he has more relevant skills/will do a better job. His wife is also the handy person of the household.
It's also interesting for me to look at the younger generations in my game: the daughters do not know how to cook. The sons also aren't great, but they were into it a bit more.
0 points for me. The reason is - I tend to begin my plays with only a single female sim. Cooking is the first thing I level up due to the unfortunate death of Bella Goth in my very first sim game in Sims 1. I was less than 3 minutes into that game, and had sent Bella to cook as my first action. She was engulfed in flames within seconds while Mortimer bounced around screaming. I had no idea what to do or how to save her. I still remember the shock of her death. When I start a new game, I level up the cooking skill to at least 3 before anything else happens. Whoever has the higher skill does the cooking. It is always the woman.
Comments
Usually whichever sim has a less time-consuming job (or can get through their work from home tasks faster) has cooking duties. If this is more often the female sim, that's usually a side effect of her being the one I want to work out a story for, as I tend to pick one "main" sim to focus on (the Heir, if you will) and that sim is usually female.
The thing is, I like to cook, so my "main" sims often get my liking to cook too. As I play generationally, I also start when they're teenagers - though all the teens get a turn at cooking, even if only once or twice on the grill. Sims who marry into the household (usually, but not always, male) don't usually have that foundation of skills, and I tend to roll with what their traits imply. A foodie sim will be sent to cook more often, as will a vegetarian sim so I can make sure the dishes are suitable for them.
Now, in my current generation, the "main" female sim is not big on the domestic stuff, while her girlfriend came with the Foodie trait and Superparent aspiration when I brought her into the house, so I ran with it and she's the one working on her cooking skill and parenting.
So most likely I won't get any points in this one
And currently playing mostly with vampires, so not that much use for cooking
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
1. main family in forgotten hollow:
as for actual food she often just casts spells tho since she is spellcaster and all
2. family in newcrest that is last couples daughter and bob pancakes
has maxed out baking and gourmet cooking as well
the wife...mostly gained her few skill points watching cooking tv with him can do some food without burning house down if she really needed to tho
3. malcolm landgraab and eliza also in newcrest...
no idea what that means for points but lmao thats only played couples i have atm
Overall:
I don't really feel like i have preference for who is doing the kitchen duty
its usually just whoever has the time and who is most interested in food in general
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My sims level the cooking skill based on who goes in to cook first, who seems to like to cook more or who has more talent at it (aka doesn't try to burn the house down or poison anyone).
Bergman in Oasis Springs 1
Bergman in Sulani 1
Mercer in Willow Creek 1
Butler in Willow Creek 1
Waterfield Sulani 1
I don't even have to look. Cooking, handiness, and Parenting are three things that all my sims level up as soon as they can start. I hate it when sims catch the stove on fire with their ineptitude
My Plumbob is GREEN today
Shane: Doesn't count because one has a food-related aspiration.
Gary: One point.
Curtis: Zero points. Doesn't count because one had the grilled cheese aspiration.
Smith: Zero points.
Friend: Zero points.
Holland: One point.
Renfield: One point.
Oasis Springs:
Savea: One point.
So final tally: four men and three women. Actually, four men and two women. I forgot one had that grilled cheese aspiration.
I was actually surprised by how many of my men are the cooks, because my save is mid-20th century influenced, and Willow Creek is one of my most conservative neighborhoods. It was also interesting to notice how few couples I have in Oasis Springs. I guess it's my swinging singles community, lol.
In my main household (in Strangerville), the man is always the cook.
It would be interesting to see a survey of how many Sim couples take the man's last name vs. the woman's last name.
Oasis Springs, Zest/Ojo = 0
He 5, She 6... so close!
Willow Creek, Reed snr. = 0
Willow Creek, Chen/Egwu = 0
Willow Creeke Snyde-Rendall = 0
Both 7... I was almost there
Anyway, I found 4 couples, but perhaps none of them really qualify for the survey.
Mathilde level 7, Karim level 5 (Strangerville) = 0
Mathilde has a food related aspiration, but I haven't focused on her aspiration at all. Karim joined the household a bit later. I have no cooking preferences with them, the one who is free cooks. It's interesting to see Mathilde has cooked more. They are cowplant farmers with twin daughters. Karim paints and knits, Mathilde repairs broken things. Both of them fish.
Layla level 4, Makoa level 3 (Sulani) = 0
They haven't lived together for long and I had played Layla more than Makoa. Currently they live in Makoa's tent. I should build them a home, but haven't wanted to focus on it or them yet.
Morgan level 4, Ilias level 7 +gourmet cooking 2 (Windenburg) = 1
They just moved in together and before they did I had played Ilias more than Morgan. I had no idea Ilias is such a good cook!
Teacup level 3, Ariel level 3 (Windenburg) = tie
They also just moved in together. I wonder which one of them will cook since neither of them is really into it. Teacup knows the food spell so perhaps she'll use it
I think that usually the one who cooks is a sim who isn't busy doing anything else, unless there are sims with a particular liking for cooking, such as a trait or preference that I decided.
@Nate_Whiplash1 That's the way to be lol. That's me in real life
Here is the breakdown...and I included their careers, just to show my females are not just there to look after their significant other!
My couple in Sulani
Cooking level: male is 10 / female is 10 (both are in different branches of the conservationist career)
My couple in Brindleton Bay
Cooking level: male is 9 (mechanical engineer) / female is 10 (scientist)
My couple in San Myshuno
Cooking level: male is 6 (detective) / female is 10 (doctor)
My couple in Mt Komorebi
Cooking level: male is 4 (part-time fisherman) / female is 10 (part-time retail + etsy seller)
My occult couple in Glimmerbrook
Cooking level: vampire male is 3 (unemployed, lottery winner) / spellcaster female is 10 ('self-employed' - money is made from her garden, flower arranging, potions and she is also an amateur writer). And to be fair, my spellcaster acquired wealth through her own merits, and had surpassed a million simoleons herself, before marrying someone who happened to win the lottery!
This was a great question by the OP! I think I do tend to get stuck in traditional roles and stereotypes, so I would definitely keep this in mind and try something new and different with new households.
2. Willow Creek. Dillon Family: 0
3. Willow Creek. Remy Family: 0
4. Willow Creek. Another Oakes Family: 0
5. Oasis Springs. Greiger Family: 0
My score is 0 – lol. Usually when I'm playing with a family, the male Sim goes to work while I enjoy playing with my homemaker female Sim. My female Sim typically does the cooking. Yet, when my male Sim is being romantic 🥰, he'll cook his lady a meal.
This was fun by the way. 😄
So yah, the women may cook a little more than their male partners, but guys and gals all clean toilets and wash dishes equally. And they all follow their dreams.
"Dad, Nana is day-drinking again." "Shut it. This is for job performance."
It makes me wonder if it is very hard to avoid these stereotypes in a life simulating game. I assume there are many parameters summing up through life, feeling a bit minor along the road, but perhaps strengthening the "females do better in the kitchen" pattern. Perhaps young girls do get more attached to mom and boys to dad, which would not be a surprise psychologically and cultural. Perhaps females get a "cooking boost" when they have kids, perhaps there are other patterns making mom respond to a toddler's need for food quicker than the dad? Even if the mom is a Lawyer and dad is a stay home. We know that the chance is bigger for automatic actions is higher if they already have just 1 related skill point. Perhaps a teen daughter is more likely to serve a meal than her brother is, because she already got that 1 skill point somehow, by copying mom?
In my game there are females living a very traditional life, but I also have those focusing on their career, and those not even wanting to start their own family. I also have a few noble houses and I'm pretty sure that even when there is a live-in Cook, the duchess will have higher cooking skills than the duke. Weird, really, as my duchesses hardly have access to the kitchen section.
House 1 - Brindleton Bay
Husband and Wife both maxed for cooking, gourmet cooking, and baking. I'm more likely to send the guy into the kitchen, because he seems to enjoy cooking more & it leaves his wife time to pursue her creative interests such as art and music. In this household the husband does more of the child rearing as well, again because he seems to gravitate more towards it.
So 1 point, I guess?
House 2 - Brindleton Bay
Husband has a higher cooking level than his wife. I'm more likely to send him into the kitchen so that she can get on with career and aspiration stuff. Having said that the household also tends to work on a rotational basis, so if I feel like I want to get a particular Sims cooking level up, or it's their partner's turn to do career and aspiration stuff, then I'll have a different Sim cook regardless of gender.
1 point.
House 3 - San Myshuno
Husband's cooking skill level is higher, and I'm more likely to have him cook. Division of cooking is pretty much the same as for Household 2, husband cooks when the wife has career or aspiration stuff to work on, I will have her cook when I want to get her skill level up or her husband needs to work on career and aspiration stuff at that time.
1 point.
House 4 - San Myshuno (2 couples)
Both male partners have higher cooking skill levels, and are more likely to be the ones who do the cooking. Again though, same as for House 2 and 3 this is dependant on what the needs of each individual Sim is at any given time. If the female sims have career and aspiration stuff to work on, or I want to level up their skill, then the men cook and vice versa.
2 points (1 point per couple)
House 5 - Windenburg
Husband has a higher cooking skill level than the wife, and I am more likely to have him cook so that his wife can concentrate on her career and aspiration needs. He has maxed out career levels & aspiration, so in this case unless I want her to level up a skill he cooks for the household almost exclusively.
1 point.
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
My sims live in the 1930s-1960s, so they're pretty darned traditional. No need to check, LOL.
On EA forum Stories and Legacies board and on QueenOfMyshuno.tumblr.com
I've enjoyed reading people's explanations of their couples and their habits. They tell even more than just the skill points. Wish I had written some insights too, but then I don't feel like going back at this point.
Updated with Werewolf Diaries (1)
It's also interesting for me to look at the younger generations in my game: the daughters do not know how to cook. The sons also aren't great, but they were into it a bit more.