In the past, I have talked about how modern day men are dealing with the Male Loneliness Epidemic and all that. However now, let’s talk about Little Red:

“Once upon a time, there was a sweet little girl. Everyone who saw her liked her, but most of all her grandmother, who did not know what to give the child next. Once she gave her a little cap made of red velvet. Because it suited her so well, and she wanted to wear it all the time, she came to be known as Little Red Cap.”

From the text, we know that the little girl is beloved by her community and we know she is beloved by her grandmother (we can also assume her mother as well). In the many stories, the father figure or any familiar male figure is absent in the story, no mention of them. Maybe the father is at work, maybe he died from the war. The only male in the story if at all is the hunter who in some stories saves Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother. So we can assume that Red Riding Hood lives with her single mother (maybe). The red velvet her grandmother uses to make the cloak also implies that their family has some wealth.

We want to give our children, our daughters, a better life. And in a world that is all too familiar with wars, and we curse at the cruel and cursed world, we are always hoping for better for our children, that they will have it better than what we have had. We should want to and hope for a better future. Nowadays, we live in a world of people who fantasize about the end of the world and doomerism. I want us to move away from that kind of thinking. That being said….

Our mothers, our sisters, wives, and daughters. Red Riding Hood has the potential to be all those things, but she also has another role assigned to her in this story.

Victim.

In the past, I have talked about how modern day men are dealing with the Male Loneliness Epidemic and all that. And these things should still be talked about. However, we also need to deal with the reality that there are people hurting and suffering right now, people without a lot of power, and harm reduction should be the higher priority right now. There are people who are actively hurting people as a way to have power over other people and allow themselves to have their worst selves be enabled and enable the worst in others. We are seeing how powerless and broken people, and powerless and broken men are harming people in the US currently. It still does not excuse their behavior and if able should be dealt with accordingly. Even though the Wolf in the story is what I view is also a victim of more powerful people and systems, if the Wolf/people are doing evil he should be stopped. Stories are important record keepers of the human experience, and we should not let the disappearing of people be unrecorded. All the characters and players should be identified, both the victims and the villains. May the incidents be recorded and not forgotten.

All I am is an artist and consumer of stories. But I can only hope that you all can be safe and vigilant, and nurture care and hope in these times.