The Metaphor of Little Red Riding Hood

"From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, And it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with an amenable disposition — neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Riding_Hood#Pre-Perrault

Nice men are depicted as the most dangerous of men by Little Red Riding Hood because they might be a threat to innocent young women's virtue.

Thus, women are anxious of such men because they wish to "keep a reputation" i.e. have sex after marriage.

Yet, another interpretation of nice men is presented here:

Red Riding Hood has also been seen as a parable of sexual maturity. In this interpretation, the red cloak symbolizes the blood of the menstrual cycle and the entry into puberty, braving the "dark forest" of womanhood. Or the cloak could symbolize the hymen (earlier versions of the tale generally do not state that the cloak is red--the word "red" in the title may refer to the girl's hair color or a nickname). In this case, the wolf threatens the girl's virginity. The anthropomorphic wolf symbolizes a man, who could be a lover, seducer or sexual predator. This differs from the ritual explanation in that the entry into adulthood is biologically, not socially, determined. -- ibid

How can a man truly be a wolf, unless he is only after one thing? Yet, what if he never truly wants it?

Then, he is a gentleman for not getting what he wants: consensual sex with a willing woman?

So, this tale says a lot about society itself by promoting anxiety and fear of nice guys in young women to protect their goodness.

Thus Little Red Riding Hood is a story about our anxiety over increasing infertility of post-modern society in developed countries.