One of the most adapted children's stories is one of Red Riding Hood. It is also one of the oldest. It has been adapted from short poems to short stories to children's books to cartoons to movies and even to porn. The symbolism of the red hood has generated much criticism of the moral and meaning behind the story. One of the more popular theories suggest that the moral behind Red Riding Hood is to warn budding women to take care of their sexuality( symbolized by red) when they reach puberty( also symbolized by red) so as to not entice man's baser instincts (symbolized by the wolf). In so many words, it basically means that women should work on hiding their sexuality for fear of being predated on by men. To top everything else the story ends with Red Riding Hood being saved by a woodcutter, a big hard working man who is the only one capable of killing the wolf. However as the years have progressed there have been many adaptations to the story, some for the worse but some for the better.
This is what an innocent and helpless Red Riding Hood should look like in order to evoke sympathy from the readers and to reinforce the belief that this girl is in need of protection from a man from other men.
This picture could be interpreted as Red Riding Hood seducing the wolf with her large chest and supposed "feminine beauty".
This is a picture from the cartoon "Hoodwinked". It shows Red Riding Hood fighting back, which is reason to hope that these gender stereotypes are being recognized in children's literature and steps are being taken to change the previous perception.
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