Wolf or Mouse: Which One Will You Be?

On paper, the song is written with the two singers having a conversation, titled the “mouse” and the “wolf” in the printed score. A statement by the mouse is always followed with a response from the wolf. The scene is set, as the two enter the wolf’s home subsequent to their date out. Throughout the song, the mouse is tempted to stay and enjoy themselves through the flirtatious words of the wolf, but feels obligated to return home–worried what family and neighbors will think if he or she stays. Though the two roles in the duet are prominently considered gender-specific, the release of the theatrical version of the song in the 1949 movie Neptune’s Daughter shows the gender roles reversed, proving that it could be done. (IMDb) More so, that same wolf-mouse dynamic holds true in today’s society as much as it does in fiction. When I was a child, gender norms had been established long before I even knew about them. For a long time, I had naturally thought that males were the dominant role in society, making them the “wolves”, and that the females were submissive, making them the “mice”. Although uncommon, it is in variations of the song where the female plays the wolf lead and the male plays the mouse role that we can truly feel the oppression felt by the mouse. I feel that growing up in the twenty-first century has given me the opportunities to see more and more females playing the role of wolf in society, going after the men or mice—like, for example, in Europe. When I traveled cross-continents, I was still young, but I distinctly remember how women would approach men much in the same way that men approach women at home, looking for a good time. Thus it seems to me that gender roles are not to blame for the wolf-mouse dynamic but certainly personality roles are to blame; naturally submissive people will always be “mice” and naturally dominant individuals will always be the “wolves”. While unheard of in the United States, seeing another side of the world really opened my eyes on how it is not just women that are oppressed but everyone with submissive “mice” personalities, whether that be a man or woman.

In more recent times, the wolf-mouse dynamic has been increasingly seen as sexually predatory. A few critics believe that the mouse is submissive to the wolf’s coercive words, since the mouse is saying throughout the song that he or she must leave, as written “I simply must go/The answer is no/I’ve got to go home”. It seems that the wolf is more interested in getting the mouse to stay, rather than helping to prepare for the journey homewards. When the song was written, and even for a few decades after, it was seen as socially unacceptable for an unmarried woman to sleep with or stay over at an unmarried man’s residence. Staying over could mean losing her family’s honor and reputation. This wolf-mouse dynamic really skews the perspective on how we view the piece, since we have a constant battle between sexes and ideas.

In 1944, and the first few years of its release, the upbeat song gained a lot of praise for the lyric written in the song “OK, fine, just another drink then/Well, it took a lot of convincing”. After all this back-and-forth between the male and female singer, the female singer finally decides that she’ll have another drink–staying over at the male singer’s place, despite what the neighbors may say about her reputation. At the time, this was seen as a song that took a liberating stand for women because the female singer chooses to go against the wishes of society and to have another drink, maybe staying at his place—showing freedom of thought and individualism. It is surprising that this song was seen as liberating because we don’t get to live in a world like that anymore. With today’s hook-up culture, Netflix & Chill is not seen as something “liberating” for women to do, but instead it is considered inappropriate behavior. Nowadays we never really think about what the individual desires, because we are always putting the egoistic social consequences ahead of them. Sometimes I wish we could go back to a world that didn’t involve so much worrying. Worrying about what other people think, worrying how they will react, worrying about what people are doing here and there. It seems trivial, but I think we should be expressing our individualities each in our own ways; whether that be with Netflix & Chill or having another drink. We can only control what we think, feel, and do—we cannot control others. Once everyone gets past that, hopefully we can go back to a time where we don’t have worry about social consequences all the time.

Twenty-first century critiques of this song highlight the lyric by the female vocalist, “Say what’s in this drink?” (19) Critics argue that the male singer’s insistent pressure to stay despite the female singer’s continued statements of her desire to go home, along with the lyric on line 19 say something iconic about our society. Nowadays, going out to bars and partying is a fun activity for women, no doubt, but the constant worry of something being slipped into her open drink like the date-rape drug or roofies is a serious concern that can only be handled by babysitting one’s drink. This is emphasized when the female singer asks “what’s in [her] drink?” because even back then in the 1940’s the same problems still held true. When someone is drugged, it is a pure violation of consent. Drugging someone against or without their consent is a huge defilement of personal space and privacy. When someone is drugged, it takes time for the product to reach their internal nervous system, but once it is ingested an individual no longer has control of his or her own body. When an individual cannot make decisions regarding their own body because they cannot think rationally, their ability to consent has been taken away as well. Anything that happens to them from then onwards is at the hands of the person who drugged them. To combat these frightening situations, we must always be aware of our surroundings and be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Being vocal causes no harm, and if you ever see something weird, it probably is—and better to be safe than sorry. See something? Say something.

Frank Loesser had no doubts when writing the age-old lyrics, because he knew what he was getting himself into. The genius words chosen for repeat in this song are very specific and hit the heart strong, bringing with them significant social implications. By using the wolf-mouse dynamic, the writer makes the audience feel the same push-and-pull that the singers feel, and it translates very well. Individuality and consent lock with this piece, because of careful word choice from the writer. Not often does a song transcend through time and still ring true with the same message as when it was written. Overall, the social associations within are very broad and are very much still issues that we face today; and with an open approach to the world we can strive to be both—the wolf, and the mouse.