![]() ![]() ![]() The first two featured child protagonists who negotiate or overcome some difficulty. Folklorists note its links to several common forms of folk tales: warning tales, problem-solving tales, and coming-of-age stories. The big bad wolf is clearly a man, baby!Īs Zipes writes, the "little red" narrative had its beginning in the oral folk traditions of Europe. Wolf on two legs, but dress him in, often suave and stylish, human clothes. ![]() For every realistic (yet talking!) wolf, there are an equal number of pictures like those in the gallery above which not only pose Mr. That this "innocent" children's story is a coded lesson on sexuality is made obvious by looking at the illustrations that have accompanied the myriad re-tellings and versions of the story. His book along with the more recent work of Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Hiding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairytale, present a fascinating look at the narrative's historical development and demonstrate the way that what originated as a coming-of-age folk tale celebrating young women's wisdom and survival skills was transformed into a blame-the-victim patriarchal morality tale. The title of my post comes from folklore scholar Jack Zipes's study of the "Red Riding Hood" tale. ![]()
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