Includes bibliographical references and index

1. Little Red Riding Hood : to be chaste or chased -- 2. Little Red Cap : to walk the straight path -- 3. The grandmother's tale : to come of age -- 4. Stubbe Peeter, werewolf : a true story -- 5. Red hot Riding Hood : a babe in the woods -- 6. The waiting wolf : in the belly of the beast -- 7. The company of wolves : she-wolf or bitch -- 8. Red Riding Hood redux : the cross-dressing wolf -- 9. The punishment of Red Riding Hood : fairy-tale fetish -- 10. Freeway : a ride in the hood -- Epilogue : under the cloak

""Little Red Riding Hood" is perhaps the best known fairy tale of all time. Featuring a cross-dressing wolf and his hapless victim, this strange tale has been passed from generation to generation, printed in thousands of storybooks and told in virtually every language. But where did the story of the girl, her grandmother and their cruel fate come from? And why does it continue to grip us?" "In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Catherine Orenstein unravels the complex sexual politics, moral ambiguities and philosophical underpinnings of Red Riding Hood's epic journey to her grandmother's house. From the werewolf trials of France's old regime to twentieth century feminists and gender-benders, Orenstein traces the many lives the tale has lived and explores how, from the nursery on, fairy tales shape and reflect our view of the world."--Jacket