Although some scholars see "The Company of Wolves" as a feminist rewriting of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, others have criticized "The Company of Wolves" for reproducing dominant patriarchal stereotypes.

First, rather than loyalty to her grandmother and the strength of bonds among women being portrayed as central values, the young girl is depicted as a sexualized heroine for whom heterosexual desire overwhelms even common sense. Even worse, the story portrays a young teenage girl who has just gone through puberty as a sexual object, and most of us would think that a fully adult man (the handsome stranger who turns out to be a wolf) who displays sexual interest in young girls is a pedophile. The girl's complicity is imprudent to say the least.

Although the girl has a knife and some training in using a knife, the girl ends up sleeping with the wolf. The message this sends to girls is that, ultimately, they are sexual objects who can only survive by submitting sexually to powerful men.