PARIS: Marlene Schiappa, a French government minister, has come under fire from members of her own party after appearing on the front cover of a playboy magazine.
Schiappa, a government minister since 2017, appeared on the magazine’s cover to accompany a 12-page interview she did on women’s and LGBT rights. Schiappa, the current Minister for the Social Economy and French Associations, posed for the cover in a white gown.
Schiappa has long advocated for women’s rights and was named the country’s first Gender Equality Minister in 2017. In this capacity, she successfully championed a new sexual harassment law that allows for on-the-spot fines for men who catcall, harass, or follow on the street.
Criticism from French prime minister
Political colleagues, including Prime Minister of France Elisabeth Borne, have criticized her appearance. According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, citing a source close to the prime minister, Borne pulled Schiappa over the cover, telling her it “was inappropriate, especially during this period.” France is undergoing a political and social crisis due to President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through controversial pension reforms despite widespread public opposition.
Sandrine Rousseau, a Green Party politician and fellow women’s rights activist, told BFMTV Friday that we are in the midst of a social crisis, there is a policing issue, there are people on the verge of death, and I have the impression of being hidden behind a smoke screen.
French politician Jean Luc Mélenchon, who finished third in the 2022 presidential elections, slammed Schiappa’s appearance and French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to interview children’s magazine Pif Gadget this week.
Mélenchon tweeted that the opposition would be the problem in a country where the President expresses himself in Pif and his minister in Playboy. France is about to go off the rails.
Schiappa responded to her critics in a tweet on Saturday, saying that defending women’s rights to control their bodies is something that happens all the time.
She said that women are free in France, with all due respect to critics and hypocrites. During an interview with news channel pf France CNews on Sunday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin defended Schiappa, calling her a “woman of character’’.
