Wolf as a Sexual Predator in “Little Red Riding Hood & the Big Bad Wolfcaller”

Authors

GAŠPAROVIČOVÁ Alena

Year of publication 2023
Type Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Description In real life, one might not encounter a wolf all that often; however, catcallers are a totally different story. Fairy tales are known to teach and warn their readers about the sorts of behaviour that might lead to them getting punished. A fairy tale that is frequently mentioned in connection to teaching readers how to behave is “Little Red Riding Hood”, which is often interpreted as a cautionary tale warning children not to talk to strangers. This presentation will focus on a contemporary (2020) version of the story by Laura Lane and Ellen Haun called “Little Red Riding Hood & the Big Bad Wolfcaller” with the aim of analysing from a feminist point of view how the authors use the well-known story to address contemporary issues specifically the harassment of women by means of catcalling. Instead of a naive little girl, Lane and Haun offer a strong – if short – protagonist, who is, in spite of her empowered character, having trouble with a catcalling wolf who harasses her. By identifying the catcaller – or in this case, the wolfcaller – as a wolf, the authors emphasise the feelings connected to the potential danger that often tend to be dismissed by others in real-life situations, thus drawing attention to the problems of toxic masculinity, aggression and the normalisation of these issues.
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