Little Red Riding Hood- yesterday and today

There are many different angles which one can look at the story of little red riding hood from. With each version, there is a different undertone. In some cultures the story was used to keep children out of the woods, in others, similar stories have arisen to encourage fear and respect of the wolf as an animal and a fellow predator. Yet in other adaptations of Little Red Riding Hood, such as Ronald Blackwell’s Li’l Red Riding Hood the wolf appears to be a metaphor for a much more vicious, much more human, sexual predator:

“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.”

I find it interesting how stories adapt given the time period and the environment. As far as I know the most well known versions of Little Red Riding Hood were all European, and evolved over a time period where one’s children were extremely important, due to the fact that they were responsible for carrying on the family name. Though this is still true today, there is not as much emphasis on the importance of “roles” within the family, or a continuation of lineage. The story of Little Red Riding Hood also surfaced at a time where the forest was much more mysterious and taboo than it is today. Therefore there was more weight placed on keeping children out of the woods, safe from potential danger, and able to continue a family’s bloodline.
In opposition, Ronald Blackwell’s Li’l Red Riding Hood was written in 1966, and in America. First of all, many wolf populations had been extirpated from the United States during the 1960’s, so the song refers to a metaphoric wolf. Secondly, children were less in danger from wild animals than they were from sexual predators, kidnappers, and generally strangers. Since this is the case, Ronald Blackwell’s version is an entirely different discourse comparable only metaphorically.