Little Red Riding Hood.

[agoodwinsmith]

This was a *hey* moment for me: I was looking up little red riding hood, and misspelled the riding hood part, which made me focus on it for the first time.  So, like, *why* is this little peasant girl, hoppity hippitying her way to granny's house, wearing a riding hood, red or otherwise?  Wouldn't a riding hood have been for riding a horse?  Would a peasant child have a horse to ride, and if so, why isn't she riding it?  If not, why does she have a riding hood?  Is it meant to indicate her overall quintessential peasantiness because she is wearing cast-off clothing inappropriately?  And so on.  I mean: red symbolism is all very well, but metaphors are usually extendable.

Who knows why this should matter to me now.  Perhaps, since I didn't find Little Red Riding Hood very interesting as a kid, I didn't wonder about her then - my hero was The Little Red Hen.

Not me, said the dog, not me said the cat, not me said the duck, then *I* will said the little red hen, and she did.