The female chars I've rolled thus far walk with their elbows tucked at their sides. What can I do, if anything, to make
them walk like, well, for lack of a better word, dikes, like Legate Rikke or Lydia?

... Really? Dikes? The whole, vast dictionary is at your disposal, and that's the best word you could find? Next time you should try just a bit harder.

And no, I honestly doubt there's a way to change the way you walk, of all things. Why does it even matter?

No idea. You could try requesting a mod that changes the walking animation in the Syrim Mods forum(if you are running Syrim on a PC). No guarantees though, and you'd have to wait till January at the least when the Construction Set is released.

Both of the characters you mentioned are Nords wearing Heavy Armor, have you tried that?

I have no idea, really.

No idea. You could try requesting a mod that changes the walking animation in the Syrim Mods forum(if you are running Syrim on a PC). No guarantees though, and you'd have to wait till January at the least when the Construction Set is released.

I've never noticed that, but have you tried putting Heavy Armor on her? Maybe she'll walk differently with bigger Armor on the waist?

Protip: if you're going to use a disparaging term for a lisbian, at least spell it right: dyke has a "Y" not an "I". A dike is a barrier to keep bodies of water at bay.
-Loth

Regardless, it is what it is.

Lydia's a lisbian, really?

Lucky girls.