When last my T390 class met, we were discussing the true intentions of the "wolf" in "Little Red Riding Hood." The wolf, is, of course, symbolic of predatory men. A reader doesn't need to be probing the text to see that. Most people who read the story and have never before considered that it is a warning not to get caught by a wolf of the two-legged variety, invariably say, "Ohhhhh, I get it," when its true message is pointed out to them.
If readers need more persuading, just remember the term "wolf whistle," and the fact that not so long ago, men who "get around," were known as "wolves."
I've included a video of the old classic "Little Red Riding Hood," by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, from 1966. Just look to the left!
Here are the lyrics:
Owoooooooo!
Who's that I see walkin' in these woods?
Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood.
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood,
You sure are looking good.
You're everything a big bad wolf could want.
Listen to me.
Who's that I see walkin' in these woods?
Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood.
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood,
You sure are looking good.
You're everything a big bad wolf could want.
Listen to me.
Little Red Riding Hood
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone.
Owoooooooo!
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone.
Owoooooooo!
What big eyes you have,
The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad.
So just to see that you don't get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways.
The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad.
So just to see that you don't get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways.
What full lips you have.
They're sure to lure someone bad.
So until you get to grandma's place
I think you ought to walk with me and be safe.
They're sure to lure someone bad.
So until you get to grandma's place
I think you ought to walk with me and be safe.
I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on
Until I'm sure that you've been shown
That I can be trusted walking with you alone.
Owoooooooo!
Until I'm sure that you've been shown
That I can be trusted walking with you alone.
Owoooooooo!
Little Red Riding Hood
I'd like to hold you if I could
But you might think I'm a big bad wolf so I won't.
Owoooooooo!
I'd like to hold you if I could
But you might think I'm a big bad wolf so I won't.
Owoooooooo!
What a big heart I have-the better to love you with.
Little Red Riding Hood
Even bad wolves can be good.
I'll try to be satisfied just to walk close by your side.
Maybe you'll see things my way before we get to grandma's place.
Little Red Riding Hood
Even bad wolves can be good.
I'll try to be satisfied just to walk close by your side.
Maybe you'll see things my way before we get to grandma's place.
Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything that a big bad wolf could want.
Owoooooooo! I mean baaaaaa! Baaa?
The image, by Gustave Dore is perhaps the most famous RRH picture ever. It's quite a picture!
You sure are looking good
You're everything that a big bad wolf could want.
Owoooooooo! I mean baaaaaa! Baaa?
The image, by Gustave Dore is perhaps the most famous RRH picture ever. It's quite a picture!
47 comments:
I love this song, but I've always felt it was implying that the wolf was hiding his rough exterior because of the judgement he would receive if he showed his true nature. The wolf seems like a "bad boy" rather than a predator in this song.
During the second part of the song, especially when he says, "what a big heart I have-the better to love you with...even bad wolves can be good," I feel the relationship being portrayed is unrequited love.
Of course, I see how the song can be read as having the same tone of the folktale. "Even bad wolves can be good" could be read as a sexual innuendo.
I love this song! But I honestly never never never put Little Red Riding Hood with predators! But you are so right! I so love your site! It is just great! Thanks for sharing!
Hmm I never thought of it this way before, but now that I do, it does make sense. Something to contemplate is always worth contemplating I always say. I love your writing (:
I think if you try hard enough you can attach a certain meaning to anything. And honestly its tough to deny some of those because the creator is not there to defend it. I think its absolutely possible and plausible but dangerous when you say something must be. There was a great article in TheWeek.com summarizing the top 10 "Scandals" of sesame street in its history. Those including that Burt and Ernie were gay and cookiemonster had an eating disorder. Hey, anything is possible.
Yes, I am definitely one of those people that used to always view the wolf as an actual wolf. It wasn’t until this class that I even really thought deeply into fairy tales. I just took viewed them as the children’s bedtime stories. My ways have undoubtedly changed, as I now view them, and understand that they were written more for the adult audience. When “Little Red Riding Hood,” was deeper discussed to me in class, I actually began to like the story better. I don’t find this odd because people do tend to take on a liking to things that they can relate to. I’m sure everyone, weather it is female or male, will sooner or later run across at least one real life “wolf.” Now you find that both sexes play the wolf character. I absolutely love the song posted here. It pretty much it just a condensed version of the fairy tale. I wonder that when it came out in the sixty’s if many people linked the song with the fairy tale. I mean reading it, it obviously coincides with the story, but I could see how it could be over looked as well.
Colleen B.
The presence of the author, in regards to interpreting the tale "Little Red Riding Hood," is not important. While reading the tale, it becomes obvious that the wolf is a symbol. To start off, fairy tales are really just spitting images of reality and when taken into context, wolves do not speak in real life. Now, I understand that this is a fairy tale and there are things that happen magically, however, metaphors play just as big as a role as magic.
Second, it is even easier to say that the wolf represents a predatory male because on the other side, we have the female fox - the vixen - which we also discussed in class. This discussion was interesting because it expanded on the predatory animal/human relationship.
To go along with the vixen, there are other examples of animal nicknames used to describe women. Like for example, the cougar. Both the vixen and cougar are predatory females. I have yet to see the cougar in any fairy tales, but if anyone does know of any, I would be delighted to read them.
Finally, to argue one other topic in the previous comment, it is not dangerous to see the Wolf as a predatory male. Comparing the program "Sesame Street" and its outreach to young children of today does not work with the morals of fairy tales. Many fairy tales were written to inform and teach young children about the dangers of the world where as "Sesame Street" was created to teach basic math, English and also friendship. The dangers in interpreting characters in "Sesame Street" are there because the program creates a family environment. It is for this reason that large part of the audience does NOT want to see an overindulgent monster or a homosexual couple in a children's television show.
If anyone is interested on expanding the image of a vixen, you can look up the first black female DC superhero named "Vixen." Sadly, the first issue never made it to the public.
I’m drawn to the irony of “Little Red Riding Hood” and its utilization today—the fact that it is a message for young women to be wary of salacious men, opposed to its wide appropriation in publicity with Riding Hood’s sexual connotations. I’m thinking specifically of the Max Factor’s Lipstick ad, 1953. Riding Hood’s erotic transformation is elucidated in the ad, where the face of an attractive, young vixen, wearing a red hood, takes up the entire right page applying the vivacious “Riding Hood Red” lipstick that will “bring the wolves out.” The left page is a black and white forest scene with men coming out from behind the trees, eager glances and suits to boot. The ad propagates: “It’s a rich, succulent red that turns the most innocent look into a tantalizing invitation,” as well as “We warn you, you’re going to be followed!” A blatant exposé of sex appeal, the lustful implication here is entirely hypocritical to the lesson of the “original” tale (i.e. Perrault’s, Grimm’s, or “The Story of Grandmother”). This is only one of the many lascivious integrations of the tale made by advertisements—as well as film, comics, and video games—as I casually browse a Google search.
A link to a photo of the lipstick ad—it’s fairly small, and you’ll have to scroll down to find it: http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2004/danceswithwolves.asp
Josh B.
The wolf for sure is just a metaphor for a man acting as a "predator" who is hunting young women or in Little Red Riding Hoods case, a young girl. I believe the tale is meant as a warning to the mother to teach her daughter to be warned against the "predatory" male and not to trust him or anything he says. The mother only warns her not to stray off the path to grandmother's house, but she never tells her what the danger of straying off the path are. All she says is that she will fall and the wine bottle will break, not don't wander off the road to grandmother's because you could get lost and something bad could happen. It seems a ludicrous idea that a mother would send her young daughter off on a relatively long trip without telling her not to talk to strange men.
Julia C.
I unfortunately must admit that I was also one of those people who had no idea that the story was a warning for young women. I always remembered it as a simple story about a girl who I found extremely slow for not realizing it’s a wolf. I did have the ‘A-Ha!’ moment in class when we began discussing that fact that it was most likely trying to teach girls not to be tempted by a ‘wolf’. When you are given this perspective it does make the story seem more important and much more educational. I also agree with Jazz above about the song. It may be about watching out for bad men, but it also comes off as more of the woman being the seductress, “What big eyes you have, What full lips you have. They're sure to lure someone bad.” In modern times, the woman is usually the one seen as ‘asking’ for bad men to come get her. It is a common idea that if a woman dresses sexy or portrays herself as a vixen type character, that she wants to be approached by the ‘wolf’. Unfortunately this idea is all too common.
Christina R.
i love this song ..thanks for make me realise this ! is full of trues !for..your are shake my feellings
I also never considered a deeper implication of sexual predation encoded within the wolf’s behavior until it was presented to me via fairy tale class lecture. Now it seems embarrassingly evident, but upon deeper reflection, somewhat alarming.
Little red riding hood is warned to not stray off the path. In all versions of the tale, it seems there are traces of evidence indicating that her predicament of violation is predicated by her bad decision. Yet, isn’t this too often the case of victims of sexual assault in our society? Considered in light Josh B.’s comments and links to little red riding hood as a seductress. She knowingly wears the color red to allure men, and enjoys the attention. And if this indeed sells makeup, what is said about the society in which these sales are embedded? That sexual attraction is what gives a woman value? Even if it means putting her safety at risk? It seems she is asked to embrace her sexuality as her power, which in light to the leering men surrounding her, is not really a safe position of power at all Food for thought. Sorry cookie monster!
Melissa L.
I started to read into fairy tales a little more in high school due to one of my teachers. She moved to the United States from Germany when she was in her teens and she told me about some of the fairy tales that were told to her as a child. This is when I realized that the wolf was a warning to young girls about low men in the woods. However, it was not until this semester that I was reading an article on JOMA that was talking about how Little Red Riding Hood was a trickster in Grandmother’s Tale which I had never read that particular version. Red tells her “grandmother” she has to relieve herself when in fact she knows what he really is and wants to escape. So Red does lie but only to save herself. And the “grandmother” tells her to relieve herself in the bed – what is up with that?
I have to comment on this blog post simply because as I was getting dressed this morning I heard this song and immediately thought of the Little Red Riding Hood discussion. I think that I always knew that they wolf was a representation of a predatory man but never made that final connection. Even after seeing the Wolf scene in Into the Woods I hadn’t really come to the conclusion that the wolf was not actually a wolf until the class discussion. To me, the story seems to kill two birds with one stone. It is a story about being aware of the men who talk to you and to pay attention to the things they are saying but it is also a story to warn young people about the dangers of walking in the woods alone. In an age when cell phones and gps didn’t exist mothers had to have some way to warn their children about those things and this story is a good way to do that.
As many others have commented above, I never understood that the wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood" is supposed to been taken as a predator. After reading this post, I also learned that men who got around were referred to as a wolf. It immediately reminded me of middle and high school dances. There was one student in my grade who would continuously "prowl" around the dance floor looking for girls who did not have a dance partner. As soon as one of us saw him, we would whisper "prowler!" to the girl beside us and pretend like we were deep in conversation and not attract his attention. Now, we still refer to him as "the prowler." He is definitely a wolf type character, creeping around in the forest (aka the dance floor) looking for his next prey (aka lonely girl.) The whole connection of the wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood" is definitely beginning to click with me and is still true to life in today's society.
Abbey H.
This class has really opened my eyes to Fairy Tales. And with each story I learn more and more that I would’ve never thought of before the discussions in class, and this story is just another example of that. Never in my mind did I put it together to view the wolf as a predator. To me as a kid I always just thought ok it’s a wild wolf in the woods of course he’s going to try to eat her. But like most these stories this is another where the meaning is more then what it appears on the surface. And what Josh brought was also something different and showed that people have been thinking this for a long time.
John J
This class has really opened my eyes to Fairy Tales. And with each story I learn more and more that I would’ve never thought of before the discussions in class, and this story is just another example of that. Never in my mind did I put it together to view the wolf as a predator. To me as a kid I always just thought ok it’s a wild wolf in the woods of course he’s going to try to eat her. But like most these stories this is another where the meaning is more then what it appears on the surface. And what Josh brought was also something different and showed that people have been thinking this for a long time.
John J
Like many of the posts above have stated, I did not understand the actual meaning of "Little Red Riding Hood" until this class. Until class last week, I honestly had no idea that the wolf interpreted a predatory male! I guess I really didn't think outside the box about fairy tales until this class. I just took the fairy tales at face value. The story makes much more sense now that I know the true meaning of the wolf. "Little Red Riding Hood" really does show the importance for young girls to stay away from strangers a.k.a the "wolves." Although the fairy tale was not written in this day and age, people from today can relate to it because of its message. I also really like Josh B's interpretation of the story. I never thought that Little Red Riding Hood could be seen as the seductress, but now I can picture that as well.
Whitney M.
Speaking of child molestation, these lyrics share themes with the first part of the movie Hard Candy. Both feature an older man trying to get the young girl either to eat for supper or really…you know. The ‘wolves’ in both of these stories use similar strategies that are meant to make the girl trust them.
Specifically for this song, I see three trickster schemes that are used. The first strategy is that the wolf tells the girl that he is there to protect her. (By doing this, the sleazebag is trying to disguise his predatory nature.) In this version of LRRH, I was surprised because I hadn’t before read that the wolf went so far as to wear a sheep costume to appear harmless. Another strategy used is the flattery that the wolf used to make the girl feel good about herself. Finally, it makes me sick to see that this wolf even tried to get the girl emotionally attached to him. Obviously, he wanted to make her as oblivious as possible so as to be easy prey.
I always found it fairly obvious, even from a disturbingly early age (I don't know what this says about me, personally speaking) that the wolf was a stand-in for a predatory male figure. Perhaps I've just been overexposed to all types of media. Regardless, the wolf is quite clearly a symbol for men -- more specifically, a symbol of men's sometimes unquenchable, carnal lust.
For some reason, when I first read this story, I was reminded of NBC's equally disturbing and sometimes hilarious ("(Sigh) What are you DOING here?") series "To Catch a Predator".
Laugh if you must, but the similarities are striking. Often, the predator, a male, attempts to befriend a younger, trusting female (but sometimes male) victim by disguising his true intentions, aspousing virtues such as friendship and companionship when his goal is really much more sinister. For this reason, I always read "Little Red Riding Hood" as almost an after-school special, a warning for young women on the dangers of going off into the woods with strange men, like something that would appear on the Lifetime channel if it had existed back then.
If only it DIDN'T exist now.
-Adam K.
Like most fairy tales, “Little Red Riding Hood,” is one that I never understood the true meaning to. I always looked at the wolf as a regular wolf animal that lived in the woods. I would have never pictured the wolf to be a guy that “gets around,” but T390 definitely changed my mind on that. I actually had no idea that men that got around where called “wolves” till Kate mentioned it in class. I liked that the post had those lyrics. They are interesting and make it clear that the wolf is more like a “man wolf” than an animal. But I do find it kind of creepy and disturbing that the lyrics saying, “you sure are looking good” and “you’re everything that a big bad wolf could want.” I got the chills when I read it. I don’t know what I would do if someone would say that to me. I would be completely freaked out. I guess it’s a good thing that I'm not someone that goes walking in the woods right?
First of all Adam, you have to admit that "To Catch a Predator" would be a lot more interesting if hosted by a woodsman with a giant axe. I'm thinking Christian Bale, but only if they could also get the broadcasting rights to some Hewey Lewis.
And I absolutely agree. The story is absolutely a metaphor for male predators, and you can very easily imagine it played out in a lifetime movie. (I'd say bad lifetime movie, but this comment is about "Little Red Riding Hood," not the literal definition of the word redundant.)
What I find interesting though, is the fact that it seems almost as much a caution to mothers as it is a warning to young women. Certainly you can't prepare children for every situation, but you can teach them that if someone looks like a wolf, it's most likely not the best idea to interact with them unsupervised, let alone tell them where your Grandmother lives and agree to race them there.
Also, just a thought, but maybe don't take off all your clothes to get in bed with your Grandmother?
Actually, this is starting to sound less and less like a Lifetime movie, and more and more like some sort of nightmare-inducing Cinemax special.
I have always remembered growing up with the tale of "Little Red Riding Hood," but never have I actually seen the meaning behind it this tale until now. I recently wrote my last paper for class titled, Beware of the Big Bad Wolf. In I discussed the trickster figures in fairy tales including the wolf of "Little Red Riding Hood" who is most definitely one to be talked about. It amazes me that the wolf is a predator who is after his prey of little girls. I was shocked when I realized this. When I was young I was oblivious to this. I loved the lyrics to this song that is posted. It portrays the wolf in such a way that suggests just how crude he really is. Every time I think of “Little Red Riding Hood” I think about the awful content it contains which is certainly not suited for children. I recently watched a disturbing movie called “Running Scared.” In it there is a segment where a man and his wife are child predators and they lure children into their van to kidnap and take them home. This was appawling to me just as the wolf is to me now. The reason why the couple reminded me of the wolf was because they talked as though they were kind and caring. They talked to the children as if there were concerned for them. The wolf uses the same technique to gain trust in Little Red Riding Hood. He acts as though he would never hurt her by talking to her in an unsuspicious voice. I will never look at this tale the same again. And it will always amaze me that these tales were meant for children.
Big, bad…WOLF… Nice name for anyone, if you want to be labeled as a little weird. Actually, wolf might have been used before as a comment for someone who’s looking for a quick way to… well let’s not go there.
Song is just awesome. If you plug it into a story it works out perfectly because it pretty much goes hand in hand with it. Even though the wolf never says anything but we can read it as a thinking subtitles, or maybe if it was a comic book, we would be seeing those small cloud balloons where the wolf is thinking instead of saying.
But in real life, wolves grow up, they change and become something more important and more caring. Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood grows up to marry Cinderella and become a father to his children. He becomes faithful, caring and lovable, with a little hint of sassy. And no, he’s not dead because no one ever dies in fairy tale, they just change they appearance and come back again… But that’s for some other discussion.
We don’t have to stretch to see that the wolf is a predator. Even Charles Perrault in his version had an after note that told young girls to be aware because the tame wolves are often more cunning. In other original tales the girl is told to strip down and sleep with “grandma”. First of all why would a child want to sleep naked with their grandmother? I can tell you I’ve never done such a thing. It sickens me. In some tales the girl tries to escape by asking to relieve herself. It is even more symbolic barbarian-like for the wolf to respond for her to relieve herself in bed. We read our children fairy tales that were originally meant for adults, just cleaned up a little bit. I would never read an original of Red Riding Hood to my children but instead a censored version. Ever wonder why there’s no child version of Bluebeard?
When I read this story I immediatley thought of the wolf as a molester of young girls as opposed to a seducer of women. The wolf is referred to as "neighbor wolf" in the Perrault version of the tale. I think calling him a neighbor represents that fact that he is someone that Little Red is familiar with. Someone who seems friendly and trustworthy, as far as it goes for children. Most children are molested not by strangers, but by someone that was supposed to be a family friend, or even suposeed to be IN the family. The wolf proceeds to make Little Red feel safe by challenging her to a race and making a fun game out of them both heading to her grandmother's house. Since it is a game Little Red is comforatable and doesn't feel the need to be frightened about the fact that the wolf is going where she is going.I feel that this tale tells mothers and fathers alike to be aware of what your children are doing and forewarn them about actions that they should not entertain.
Sherry B.
I’ve always known that the term “wolf” was used when a person was referring to a male with a healthy sexual appetite. Believe it or not, I had always heard it being used by my great-grandparents on my mother’s side. It was just never clear to me whether this definition also encompassed rapists or other sexual predators. The in-class discussion on the male seducer and their role in fairy tales quickly cleared that up for me, though. Also, like many other individuals I’ve talked to, I had never made the mental connection between these “wolves” and those that are in the “Little Red Riding Hood” tales. This made me feel foolish and intrigued at the same time. I now had a reason to take a more in-depth look at a tale that I had never really been fond of and research a new and interesting topic. While reading all of the various versions of the tales, I also started thinking about the Duran Duran song “Hungry Like the Wolf” and how it related so well to this topic. Holly G.
I grew up knowing Little Red Riding Hood as being that little girl that had a basket of goodies for her old grandmother. I also knew the game Little Red Riding Hood. If you think about the true story about Little Red and the game, the game kind of symbolizes something. We have two long lines holding each other by the hands and we have one person in the center running to one side trying to get through. Well Little Red Riding hood was trapping herself in the woods and straying down the wrong paths. I'm not totally positive if she ever went with the wolf but by going down with a man that thought this little girl was attractive was obliviously leading her to temptation. I'm not sure if the game and the story are supposed to interact with each other but they seem to be very similar to the real story. This girl was had a curious mind that lead her to the seducers and lustful wolfes.
KM
Before discussing this in class, I thought the moral of “Little Red Riding Hood” was simply not to talk to strangers. The last time I probably heard the tale was when I was younger, being older helps me to see the extended connotations of the “wolf” and his role in the story.
What I find interesting about fairy tales is how society has changed so much over the hundreds of years between their publication and now, yet some morals and situations still prevail unchanged. When I was a child, adults placed a heavy importance on “don’t talk to strangers” programs. This same sort of education must have also been important in 1697, when Charles Perrault published one of the earliest versions of the above tale. Other stories such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid” also have relevance to the present day. The surrounding world may transform over time, but the innate qualities of humans and the stories about them appear to remain unchanged throughout the ages.
-Andrew S.
I must admit that i don't know very much about fairy tales because my mother never introduced me to any when i was younger. but, i do remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood from when i was in elementary school. i never actually took the time to analyze the story or to try to figure out the meaning or lesson of the story. i always thought fairy tales were only children s bedtime stories and it was foolish to read them if you weren't a child. after having the discussion in class and listening to this song i realize that they are far more then bedtime stories, i better understand that Little Red Rididng Hood is a warning to young women to be aware of all the sexes wolfs that try to trap them for God knows what.
Yesenia C
I agree that prior to reading “Little Red Riding Hood” for this class I did not understand the true meaning of fairy-tales. I was very unaware that they were originally intended for adults and realize how much they were changed to be told to children. In reading Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and the Grimms’ “Little Red Cap,” I finally realized the different symbols and roles that characters play in fairy-tales. Less than two weeks ago, if someone would have asked me what the wolf portrayed in “Little Red Riding Hood,” I would have given them a puzzled look. Now, I understand that the wolf is actually a predator and may symbolize someone who is promiscuous. When someone says “the big, bad wolf” a totally different image will come to mind. Instead of picturing an actual wolf, I will think of a man that preys on women with bad intentions. Now that I have a better understanding of fairy-tales and their true intentions, I am curious to read and find out more from various tales! Kayla W.
Kelsea T
I think that the Little Red Riding Hood song is pretty awesome. I like the way that the wolf is saying a variation of the things that Red normally says to grandma. He is trying to be sly by dressing up like a harmless sheep, which could relate to lamb, which is directly associated with Jesus, innocent and loving. The fact that he tells her that he will stay with her just to be sure that she is safe is even more sly, because his real intentions are anything but harmful. He thinks that when she trusts him then he will be able to take his disguise off to let her see the real creature that he is. He wants her to think that she knows him as the sheep and it shouldn’t change anything once he exposes the wolf on the inside. But he is a predator, he keeps commenting on her beauty and how dangerous it is for her to be alone with a wolf. He is the only predator that she is facing in those woods.
I feel so silly for being so naive to this fairy tale and the implications of it. I honestly have never ever been a fan of cartoons, even in childhood, and even though I am aware that all these fairy tales existed long before animation, I still never read any either. In reading, and movies, I pretty much limit myself to good romantic comedies and an occasional psychological thriller. With that said, I feel somewhat traumatized by reading all the versions of this story. I truly had no clue that the wolf ate the grandmother or Little Red Riding hood (in some of the stories). I cannot recall this story having been read to me with the truth being exposed. I am assuming that my mother sugar coated the story to protect what she assumed was my innocence. So even as an adult, I didn’t assume the wolf was used as a representation for a deceiving man until the obvious was pointed out to me.
Vanessa R.
In class we discussed how Little Red Riding Hood along with other fairy tales were told not only for entertainment but to warn or teach people lessons. In Little Riding Hood we discussed how the big bad wolf represented a male predator of sorts. The moral of the story is that women especially young women should stay away from strange "wolf" like men that may be after devouring them. This idea of men being predators and going after women I believe continues to today's world. Stronger male types taking advantage of women in many ways are always heard about no matter where you live.
Later after leaving class I remember a statistics book I read once that illustrated statistics in the media, how they can be manipulated and how people who may have not had lots of education in statistics may over look what a study or numbers really mean. I then made a connection between an example the book gave about a common statistic about rape and college age women. The statistic was that 1 in 4 women are raped on a college campus. This number seems very high and shocking. It definitely cause women to think about being more cautious and be more on guard of "big bad wolves". However, it turns out that this statistic may be more of a tale than an entire truth. After closure examination it is pointed out that the women who wrote and conducted the survey asked vague questions and interpreted the answers in ways that the women taking the survey may not of considered herself a victim but her answer was interpreted in such a way that she was. One question the survey asked was similar to Have you ever regretted having sex with a man? So any women who has had a one night stand, drunk or otherwise was considered forced to do it. And though the survey created a great story of young women being taken advantaged of by wolfish men, that creates awareness about a subject that all women should be aware of, it is slightly more of an unfortunate fairy tale than hard fact.
This reference comes from It Ain't Necessarily So: How Media Make and Unmake The Scientific Picture Of Reality by David Murray.
Sara J
BrittaniH. I was one of the people in class that said, "Ohh, I get it". I had never thought before that the wolf was a symbol for a man, nor had I heard a man referred to as a wolf. I originally thought the tale meant listen to your parents, stay on the path, don't talk to strangers, or you will be eaten! Now it all makes sense on another level as well. I think all of us, men too, can take some knowledge away from this fairy tale to apply in everyday life. Not only can both sexes be wolves, but I think there can be wolves in all aspects of our lives, not just love. Most of us have been in a situation where a person seems very nice and helpful on the outside, but has ulterier motives. We all need to be careful for the wolves out there!
I find the song particularly funny, but also very interesting now that I have realized the true fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. It is obvious that what this “wolf” is saying is nothing more than seductive lines. Also that this song is not dedicated to “Little Red Riding Hood”, but to any Little Red Riding Hood who will fall in tramp of the wolf. The lyrics are funny, I think it would be interesting to hear a version of the 2000’s since this one is from 1966; I think would be interesting to see the difference in the lyrics.
Guadalupe G.
I grew up hearing fairy tales throughout my childhood and enjoyed them. But, I never understood the morals of the fairy tales growing up. Discussing, "Little Red Riding Hood" in class helped me understand the different perspectives and meanings about fairy tales. I have learned throughout class, that fairy tales are not only viewed as an entertainment source for young children, but rather lessons that must be taught at a very young age.
In hearing the song, it reminded me that these types of situations are not only seen in fairy tales, but also in reality. In the real world, men disguise themselves in order to satisfy their own pleasures. For example, as seen in the fairy tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" in which the “wolf” not only fools the young girl, but also manages to portray a nice and innocent man. I believe the moral of this story is that men are always going to deceive the opposite gender, as a way, of predominantly showing power. I disagree with this concept, that one gender is intellectually smarter than the other. I believe "Little Red Riding Hood" plays a major role in all humanity because it focuses on the different levels of obstacles that children and adults face today.
Mary Cruz A.
Listening to the song seems so much different than actually reading the lyrics. Maybe it’s in the singer’s ability to scandalize his phrasing into sexual connotations, but regardless of that the lyrics read pretty tame in my opinion. It almost seems as if the wolf is pretending to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, yet he is not really a “wolf” to begin with. In fact the wolf sounds more like a protector in this sense. After acknowledging Little Red’s big eyes and their ability to lure other wolves the wolf asserts: “I think I ought to walk with you for a ways”. The wolf in this context understands who the real wolves are- the ones that will chase her. One can see his motives as a kind of chase, although they seem a bit milder than so often assumed. The wolf is even hesitant in what Little Red thinks of him: “Until I'm sure that you've been shown. That I can be trusted walking with you alone”. If we look at wolves and men as analogous, the perception of the two is clear. The wolf does not want to be associated with other wolves. Likening it to the notion that “all men are pigs”, the wolf wants to steer clear of hasty ill thought advances in an effort to separate him from the rest.
When I was younger, I grew up reading/listening to fairy tales. However, I never understood the morals that lay deep within some of the well-known fairy tales. After discussing Little Red Riding Hood in class, I have a better understanding and appreciation for the lessons in it.
I think this song portrays the main lesson within this fairy tale. Some men will “disguise” themselves in order to look more appealing to women. They come across sweet and genuine, but later down the road eventually show their true colors. However, I don’t believe that men are the only ones to blame. In “Little Red Riding Hood,” the young girl falls for the wolf’s façade. Was it not obvious to her that the person lying in the bed was not her grandmother? I think sometimes women are blind to the actions and intentions of men. A woman’s love for her man can sometimes hinder her from seeing the reality that is staring her in the face.
-Emily C.
I also thought the wolf as a real wolf before I read the material for class. For current times, although it seems to be rare, could a woman be a seducer such as a man is? Are women still shown as venerable to the big bad wolf today as they were many, many years ago?
This song does enlighten me even more to how the wolf can be viewed as a metaphor as a seductive man. Seeing this as so, it seems that Grimm’s version is lacking in teaching morals, in which they try to impart to the audience, the children, reading. Little Red Riding Hood does not venture off the path, as her mother said, but still encounters the wolf. Perhaps the brothers were hinting at the fact that women cannot avoid that seductive man, that they must be prepared to meet that challenge head on? Or that a woman would have to identify when a “hungry wolf” comes across their path to Grandma’s house?
I only ever heard the hook, I can’t help but to think of the them when I read the words “Little Red Riding Hood” even add the “hey” in the front and the “you sure are lookin’ good” at the end. But it wasn’t until now that I heard and read the whole song that I realize how disturbing it is. When I was a child reading “Little Read Riding Hood” what I saw in the meaning of the story was “don’t talk to strangers” it wasn’t until I was in this class reading the originals as an adult. That I now see the meaning of the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” as this song depicts. There is still the warning of “Don’t talk to strangers”, but now it has a reason he might be trying to have a one-night stand or what have you, because that is obviously what the words are saying in this song.
Silvaan C.
It had been awhile since I had read fairy tales and when I heard “Little Red Riding Hood” was going to be our first tale I thought I know this one. Reading it for class I started to notice things I hadn’t before such as, the wolf really isn’t just a wolf. It is funny to see how your perspective and understanding of things change as you get older. I can see how the wolf can represent a sly male, and the things he can say to convince you that he is not a wolf. Just like in the song he is trying to convince Little Red that he is a sheep and not a wolf. I like how one of the commenters said both sexes play the role of wolf. I do see both sexes portraying the wolf in real life. The ones that are the most successful are the ones that one of stories calls a tame wolf, which are the ones that you have to look out for.
Carl C
Unfortunately I am one of those people that have to agree with these song lyrics. I always thought even before starting to read true fairy tale beginnings that the story of Little Red Riding Hood was suspicious, to begin with. The wolf always came off to me as having some sort of sexual demeanor and Little Red Riding Hood seemed very seductive in telling him in detail where she was going and exactly what she was doing. Little girls shouldn’t be walking through the woods alone and definitely shouldn’t be talking to a Wolf or any stranger to begin with. In the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood the wolf might not come out and seem as blunt with detail as in the lyrics of this song but from the beginning you can tell that he is up to no good when he starts heading to her grandmother’s house and waiting for her. If it was only the fact that he was hungry, and wanted to eat Little Red Riding Hood he would of ate her right there in the middle of the forest. She had already described for him in detail where her grandmother lived so it would have been easy to eat her first and then go finish off her grandmother he had no reason to sit in her grandmother’s bed and wait for Little Red Riding Hood to arrive. I believe the lyrics in this song bring it to attention just how really the Wolfs mind was not only in eating Little Red Riding Hood but all the sexual thoughts that were running through his mind.
Serene Ibrahim
I love this class because I remember almost all these fairy tales in a totally different way. And this Little Red Riding Hood is a great example because growing up listening to this story I did not get the wolf as being a predator. Yes I thought of him as a bad wolf but I did not get a message out of the story at all. But then reading it again in this class, the first time I read it I thought, “Oh wow, that’s not right.” It was really quite creepy. This song makes perfect sense to me. And it amazes me how much different kids might see things or hear things when listening to these stories. It’s like I never comprehended them or their real reasoning/message behind them. I almost want to go back and dig out the book of fairytales I was read when I was little to see what else I missed.
Amanda F.
When I read through the lyrics, never having heard the song itself, I got the feeling that the wolf switched back and forth from trying to “get with” Little Red Riding Hood, and wanting her to accept him. In the fairytales about the wolf, past and current, you can understand the idea that he represents a man. He sometimes seems to be a man that wants to take LRH away into the woods to do with her whatever he pleases. This song talks more about trust than the fairytale does. Although, he does talk about having to keep his “sheep skin on”, which implies that he is trying to get her trust for ungentlemanly purposes. The sexual influence is just as prominent in the song as it is in the fairytales we have all heard. The only real difference with the song is that it comes out and states the sexual references. There is no play at “eating” her; he obviously is trying to get into bed with her. Kristy K.
Looking at these lyrics and after reading different versions of Little Red Ridding Hood in class gives me a different outlook on Little Red Ridding Hood. It has been quit a long time since I have read any fairy tales especially Little Red Ridding Hood. Therefore, after reading I had never thought as the wolf in the story ever being anything else other than a wolf, but as you explained men back then and now can act and are characterized as being deceiving and misleading. After reading the "real" version in class I had never looked at the wolf ever being sexual until then. It really opened my eyes and made me want to read the real versions of all the other fairy tales I use to love when I was young. All in all I can not wait to read more of the real versions of different fairy tales in this class! Tiara J
I really liked the lyrics of this song, they were funny and smart. I always thought there was a lot more to fairy tales than meets the eye initially, but I never really thought about it extensively until taking T390. I knew there were often messages in them but this song really points out the predatory nature of the wolf well. It also makes it a lot easier to understand than the fairy tale.
I also find this song really funny because it sounds like something a lot of not so nice guys do to try to get girls to like them. They always try to come off like the nice guy who doesn't have any bad intentions, when really that is all they have. Being smart when dealing with men isn't any less relevant today than it was when Little Red Riding Hood was originally written, it is just now people are in general less uptight about sexuality and morality. However, being careful and being smart when dealing with other people and your emotions is something every parent tries emphasize to their kids even today. This is just a more fun way of examining the message of Little Red Riding Hood and what the wolf character actually represents.
Ashley S.
This isn’t about the song, but rather a movie preview to Red Riding Hood that I just saw. I cannot wait! However, I am slightly biased because it was Leonardo DiCaprio’s idea to put a gothic twist to this tale to make it into a movie which is to be released in 2011. The basis of the story isn’t about a young girl but rather a matured beauty, who is in love with a werewolf. The werewolf is part of the community she lives in but is being hunted for the murders of innocent civilians. In my eyes, the wolf seems charming and is defiantly attractive making him even more dangerous. In the preview it is not exactly clear if the heroine knows if her boyfriend is werewolf or not, which to me makes it much more interesting. In Maria Tatars book The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, she includes pictures of different representations of the story. In a picture by Eugene Feyen it looks as though LRRH knows what she is getting into and that there is a wolf in the bed that she is willingly getting into. Therefore I think there is a strong suggestion between the thought that LRRH is asking for trouble and knows what is getting into. There is also a dramatic scene in the preview where her beautiful red cloak is against snowy mountains. I cannot wait for more previews and reviews!
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