100wendybirds

random thoughts on ruby red

I want to paint my nails cherry red and slip on a pair of beautiful red shoes.  It can make everything better, if just for a moment.

The peasant girl in Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale “The Red Shoes” is punished for desiring beautiful Moroccan red slippers.  When she demands her own pair of bright red shoes, she is cursed and she dances to her death. 

In the classic Hollywood ballet film from the 1940s, a beautiful and ambitious ballerina chooses her career over her husband.  Before she steps onto the stage, she has a nightmarish vision of her life and throws herself of the balcony.

Little Red Riding Hood is analyzed as a cautionary tale of a girl’s new sexuality. Red is the symbol of this terrifying danger. 

Similar to  other warnings to pretty young things with ruby red lips eating ruby red apples.

Red is the symbol for the harlot, the hussy, the hollywood starlet.

But this makes red also about girl’s empowerment, adulthood, sexuality.  When I wear red, I feel pretty and powerful. Especially red shoes! I feel like I am going on some kind of adventure.