While the nature of this male-dominated situation clearly registers on her face, she is not intimidated by it in the slightest. This is further demonstrated when the drop-ship has crashed on the planetoid, and Ripley heads down into the engine room to consult with Parker and Brett about repairs. The two engineers clearly resent the idea of a woman overseeing their work, and make that known to her with openly hostile sarcasm, and light hazing. Ripley, however, takes it in her stride.

Vital to the characterization of Ripley throughout Alien is her relationship with Ash, the Science Officer – which is contentious, at best. For the first half of the film, we are not aware of his android status, and so we assume he is simply an insecure, sexist little man. He clashes with Ripley at every turn, a...

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