What Would Female Rimmer Be Like?

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

No, not Arlene, much though I enjoy her as a character. Someone posted a prompt in the Kink Meme about what Rimmer would be like if he'd been born female in the RD universe (but presumably with the same family background): http://starbuggers.livejournal.com/317.html?thread=78909#t78909

My instinctive reaction is that's a really difficult prompt because I find it really hard to imagine. So many of Rimmer's personality traits come from his family's expectations of what he's supposed to be and achieve as a "red-blooded heterosexual male" (heavy sarcasm). Would female!Rimmer even have joined the Space Corps or would she have been pressurised into marrying a "nice boy from a good family" and producing the next generation? Would she take refuge in meaningless affairs like her mother?

I'm working on the assumption that Io, as seen in "The Beginning", is basically the universe's 1950s throwback. Rimmer's classmate Wendy wears a similar outfit to his mother in "Dimension Jump" despite the difference in age. However, the fact that Rimmer's class is mixed does indicate that it perhaps wouldn't be impossible for female!Rimmer to divorce her parents like Arnold and strike out on her own. It would certainly make for a very different dynamic with Lister.

Whilst I've never read a female!Rimmer fic apart from those involving Arlene, I have read a few with female!Lister (not Deb), which I find much easier to imagine. I suppose it's because he exhibits quite a few qualities often stereotyped as female, for example his open sobbing at romantic films. (Although I'm female and have never done that.) :p

If you made it through my ramblings, have this link to Diminua's fic with a female Lister. The difference it makes to her dynamic with Rimmer is remarkable. Link to part 1; each chapter has a link to the next: http://diminua.livejournal.com/31604.html

Comments

[nice-girls-play.livejournal.com]

Oddly, I saw the question and my brain coughed up "Jen from The IT Crowd, only more neurotic." I don't think that's too far from the truth -- I think Rimmer still would have born the burden of being the 'disappointing one' that didn't live up to Daddy's expectations. And Mr. Rimmer might have been frustrated even more to see his "last chance" for a young officer material lad bearing his name turn out to be a girl. Older brothers aren't much kinder to younger sisters who have been branded as the family scapegoat than they are to younger brothers. I think whether she had expectations of joining the space corps or finding a nice husband and settling down, I think she still would have rebelled (divorcing her parents, running off to join JMC) and yet longed for approval. Maybe her goals on Red Dwarf would have been altered slightly -- passing astronavigation AND finding a proper husband -- but, honestly, I don't know that they would be.

With Lister, I do think the dynamic would be somewhat different. I think Lister would be more gentle with his ribbon initially before devolving into the relationship we see in The End. I wonder if the other JMC staff would be more cruel in *their* treatment if Rimmer, given how western humor and culture loves to see social climbing women taken down.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Agreed that the Rimmers would probably be just as cruel. Possibly with less physical and more emotional violence, but just as cruel. :(

I've been trying to imagine how female!Rimmer would have been treated in the aftermath of a liaison with a male (but still concussed) McGruder. I imagine much the same but with some sexism thrown in.

She might have been ashamed of it rather than clinging to it to bolster her self-esteem, but not for the "dubious consent" reasons, rather because she'd had a one-night stand.

The more I think about this, the happier I am that the Rimmers only had sons. :/

[nice-girls-play.livejournal.com]

My brain just goes down darker and darker alleys the more I think about it: I think, among the women on the Dwarf, she might be considered a bit of a throw back -- someone whose ineptitude as a technician and extreme test anxiety would be seen as an embarrassing reminder of archaic stereotypes about women attempting to adopt traditionally male professions and skill sets.

With regard to McGruder, my brain goes a couple of different places -- if McGruder is still Yvonne (as opposed to Ivan or John), I can see that almost proceeding as it did in The Last Human, with Yvonne not completely sure that happened and waiting for Rimmer to come forward, while Rimmer would just prefer to pretend it didn't happen -- maybe still clinging to her parents' conservatism, maybe just repressed in general and, in her mind, Not A Lesbian.

If it's a male McGruder, I think he would be vilified by most of the female crew, laughed at by most of the male crew (minus Lister) and Rimmer... maybe proceeding as male Rimmer did in the series, clinging to false bravado: "Yeah, we had sex. I'm a modern 23rd-century woman. I don't need a man to marry me to get off. So what? I'll be at the Love Celibates meeting, thank you very much." Whether she actually feels that inside is another story.

The darkest alley I've got is how it would change her dynamic with a Kochanski-smitten Lister. I think her jealousy would be a lot more evident and maybe less impenetrable to her -- "you're messing with my technician... who is also my bunkmate... who is also vile and disgusting and eats his own toenail clippings and why you'd want to trifle with his affections is frankly beyond me but *stop it, you homewrecker*."

(oh dear, I think I want to write this now)