Little Red Riding Hood - Sexual Context

lurking in the mist

Many view Little Red Riding Hood as an innocent tale with a moral and message not to talk to strangers, but what if that is not the message at all?

Is something there

Let's take into consideration that fairy tales were never meant for the ears of children; this is one reason many of them are so dark and disturbing. Considering this fact, let's review the details of Little Red Riding Hood: we have a young girl sent into the woods by her mother to bring her grandmother goods (cakes, breads, butter, and wine depending on the version you read). A long her route she encounters a wolf who gets her to tell him exactly where LRRH is going and how to get there. The wolf convinces her to take the longer path and in turn reaches Grandmother first, killing her. Red shows up, see the wolf in her grandmother's nightgown and in some tales knows something is wrong, yet she still gets in bed with him.
Yet no one seems to see the sexuality taking place.
I for one not only see it but agree with many that Little Red Riding Hood, regardless of the version you read has a sexual under tone to it. The coming of age, a passage of generational knowledge from grandmother to mother to daughter; perhaps a warning to young women about the desires of men. The wolf is used as a symbol of the animalistic nature of men to address sexual urges.
Catherine Orenstein states in her book Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale we see the morals of Charles Perrault's version as the unchaste woman being as good as dead. In later versions the young LRRH is told not to stray from the path, telling women if they do stray they may die, but if they stay on the right path she will become the heroine.

Maybe I like the Big Bad Wolf

Psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim suggested that Little Red Riding Hood was either "stupid or wants to be seduced" claiming that by disobeying her mother she becomes a "fallen woman" and allows the wolf/man to seduce her.

In Marie de France's Bisclavret we have a completely different tale where the Bisclavret/werewolf is ashamed of what happens to him. He tries to keep is a secret but tells his wife after she pleads with him. His wife betrays him and uses her sexuality to have another man steal Bisclavret's clothing making Bisclavret remain in his wolf state. Bisclavret is discovered by the king taken in as a pet and is loved dearly by his master. Upon seeing the knight that stole his clothing and his former wife, Bisclavret attacks them both. The truth is later discovered by the king and Bisclavret is given back what was his. In this version, the woman is not heroine or victim but a seducer of men.
As versions evolve, Little Red Riding Hood grows from a naive child to an aware young woman. She slowly goes from victim to a true heroine that no longer needs a huntsman to save her from the big bad wolf. She can now use her sexuality to trap and kill the wolf.