Sex = Power?

The photo above is from Rihanna's recent interview with men's magazine GQ (the full interview can be found at http://www.gq.com/women/photos/201001/rihanna-video-photos).

Rihanna has been adept at provoking audiences as of late, and no doubt these photos are meant to accompany and illustrate the theme of her new album entitled "Rated R". The use of one's sexuality to sell themselves sparks that old debate about whether this sort of thing is to be seen as empowerment or exploitation of the self. I've found myself on both sides of this debate from time to time, but what interests me the most in Rihanna's case is that this is all on the heels of her Diane Sawyer interview in which she finally addressed ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and the abuse she endured. (In fact, the Sawyer interview hadn't even aired when the GQ interview took place.)

Women often say that they feel their power is in their sexuality. I would make an educated guess that Rihanna felt a loss of power throughout her abusive relationship and in the months that followed once news of the abuse went public. She was criticized for her return to Chris Brown following the abuse and in the Sawyer interview it seemed that she felt a bit of shame in her decision to take him back. As we all know, she did eventually decide to end the relationship.

I have to wonder if her choice to market herself as a "good girl gone bad" is her way of empowering herself again. If there is power in sexuality, then might she be re-asserting herself through these racy photographs and provocative lyrics?

Some snippets from the GQ interview:
"On another track, she talks about getting her hair pulled during sex."

"Rihanna's image—so carefully crafted and handled and managed from the moment she was plucked, at age 15, from a girl group in Barbados by a producer who would squire her to his home in Stamford, Connecticut, get her a record deal with Def Jam, and send her on her way to superstardom—had gotten all twisted up in the "Chris Brown thing." In the record business, domestic violence isn't just a tragedy; it's an image crisis. So now Team Rihanna had to decide how to "handle it." Their plan was this: She'd talk about it for the release of the album. She'd do Diane and Glamour and announce that she wanted to help young women who'd been in her position. "

"[Interviewer]Okay. Well then. How did the cover shoot go? I heard the pictures are really hot.
[Rihanna][giggles] It's very sexy, yeah. At one point [chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group] L.A. Reid came into the shoot, and he was like, "Rihanna, put some fucking clothes on!"


Maybe I'm just reading waaaay too much into this and she is just following the adage "sex sells" like so many other young female starlets.

What do you think? Is Rihanna using her sexuality to regain some sense of power? Or is this as simple as the idea that sex will sell her image and albums?