The Babe in the Woods - Feminist Views on 21st Century Cinematic Retellings of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’

Resumé

Hvorfor bruger mainstream filmen klassiske eventyr og det overnaturlige til at behandle emner om pigers seksuelle debut? I artiklen argumenteres der for, at eventyret tillader en postfeministisk nostalgi i kønsspørgsmål ved at gøre brug af det overnaturlige. Sådanne fortællingers popularitet kunne være et symptom på unges tiltagende søgen efter seksuel kontrol og regler. I artiklen konkluderes det, at brugen af eventyr inden for film har mulighed for at udvikle en positiv og fremadsynet feminisme, men at den indtil videre har opnået større succes med at muliggøre en postfeministisk nostalgi.   Why does mainstream cinema increasingly make use of classic fairy tales and the supernatural in order to address issues surrounding girls’ sexual debut? I contend that the fairy tale allows for postfeminist nostalgia in gender issues because feminist awareness is undermined by the supernatural. The popularity of such narratives could be symptomatic of a perceived lack of boundaries to young people’s early sexual exploration. This article concludes that although the fairy tale framework in film has the potential to popularise a modern feminism, it has gained its greatest following by allowing for a postfeminist nostalgia. Emneord: Eventyr, film, feminisme, seksualitet. Keywords: Fantasy, film, feminism, sexuality.