A little New Yorker humor

James Thurber was a favorite among fans of the New Yorker readers for his humor. From short stories like "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" to his own fairy tale "The 13 Clocks," Thurber was a master at creating the absurd to poke fun at the mundane world of daily life in the earlier part of the twentieth century. In particular, the curt tale of "The Little Girl and the Wolf" is a picture perfect example of Thurber's work- written like a short blurb found in a magazine, the story immediately grabs the reader's attention to the time period of the story's setting. The references to the Metro-Goldwyn lion and Calvin Coolidge date the short fairy tale to the 1930s, and indeed, "The Little Girl and the Wolf" was published in the New Yorker on Jan. 21, 1939. But more importantly, the moral at the end, "It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be" calls to mind the changing social structure of the United States during that time period. During the 1930s, many more women belonged to the work force than ever before. As a result, women no longer wanted to be known as the little red riding hoods that always had to be protected by the kind huntsman, and they were quite adamant in asserting their new-found independence from Victorian mores. On the other hand, men were not so comfortable in sharing their position as the bread-winners with women. Many men saw the modern woman as a threat to their idea of masculinity, for how were they supposed to prove their merit when women no longer needed them to take care of the family budget and security? Thurber's "The Little Girl and the Wolf" pokes fun at this fear by illustrating how "the little girl" no longer needs the huntsman to rescue her from the big, bad wolf. The male no longer can serve as the role of hero/rescuer, and the woman controls all the shots (...please pardon the bad pun.) Thurber probably wrote this version of Little Red Riding Hood partly as a warning to men to be on the lookout for predatory women, for the economic and social conditions of the time made it easier for them to upsurp all their power, and partly as a jest at men's fears of independent women. I mean, who doesn't like a little intrigue in their relationships? The old Little Red Riding Hood would have certainly been a bore with the half of a brain she had...