Rihanna Exposed: The GQ Pictorial, The Chris Brown Situation & What It All Means for Her

Last night, I was watching Entertainment Tonight and they had a clip of the ladies from The View discussing Rihanna exposed on the January 2010 cover of GQ.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck, the conservative host on the show, had an interesting take on one of the photos. Rihanna is pictured laying back on some type of seat, hands between her legs covering her “lady parts,” with her breasts exposed.

Elizabeth’s take is that she was sending the message of “you can look, but you can’t have [the most intimate part] of me.” I thought this was stunning insight.

Joy Behar’s take was a rather comical, “So what, you can’t have THIS part, but you can have my boobs!” Hilarious!

All joking aside though, Rihanna exposing herself in GQ does bring up some interesting questions, especially in light of her recent violent encounter at the hands of ex-boyfriend, R&B singer Chris Brown, ie:

What message is Rihanna sending to young women by appearing on the cover of GQ semi-nude? On the one hand, photos like these can say confidence. However, others would argue that it sends the wrong message to so many young girls who look up to her.

Is Rihanna acting out, trying to forge a new path for herself after ending things with Chris Brown? After being in an abusive relationship, your self-confidence takes a beating (pun fully intended). There’s nothing like a boost to a woman's confidence than appearing on the cover of one of the hottest men’s magazines of all times and having millions of men – and women -- rave about how gorgeous you are.

Take that Chris Brown!

Is Rihanna trying to capitalize on the spotlight that is shining so bright on her now? Rihanna has a new album out. Think this photo shoot and the accompanying interview won’t get some of the media’s attention back to her musical talent? Hmmmm . . . ah, yes, it will . . . after you get over the sizzling photos.

Of course, no one knows the definitive answer to these questions but Rihanna herself, but what is for sure is this:

Smoking Hot! This is one smoking hot young woman. No one can deny that.

Regret: Who knows if she will regret these photos later, but she’s in an industry where few seem to, ie, Madonna, Janet and a host of others who’ve gone on to international fame and fortune have not suffered one iota because they took a little off.

Rihanna is Young Enough to Indulge: If you’re going to do photos like these, better to get them out of the way while you’re young and hot enough to indulge with no regrets.

No matter what the future holds for Rihanna, one thing is for sure, she’s living her life . . . her way.