Marlene Schiappa, a French minister, was criticised for appearing on the cover of Playboy magazine.

Schiappa received criticism from Borne, who stated that it “wasn’t proper, especially during this era.”

French government politician Marlene Schiappa has drawn criticism for posing for the infamous Playboy magazine. While with serving as the Minister for the Social Economy and French Associations, Schiappa also writes feminist fiction. She is featured fully clothed on the magazine’s front cover and in a 12-page interview about women’s and LGBT rights.

Politicians, notably French Royal Minister Elisabeth Borne, have criticised her decision. According to BFMTV, Borne criticised Schiappa, saying that it “wasn’t suitable, especially during this era.” The current political instability in France is a result of President Macron’s reforms to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

“Where is the respect for the French people?” asked Green Party MP Sandrine Rousseau to BFM television. Those who are protesting, who are working two more years, who are losing paydays, and who are struggling to eat because of inflation.

I don’t have a problem with women’s bodies being displayed anyplace, but there is a societal context, she continued.

Schiappa’s appearance on the magazine cover as well as French President Emmanuel Macron’s choice to give an interview to the kids’ magazine Pif Gadget were both criticised by another French politician, Jean Luc Mélenchon. “The opposition would be an issue in a nation where the president spoke in Pif and his minister in Playboy. “France is veering off course,” he declared.

Schiappa responded to the criticism by defending herself on Twitter, writing, “Defending the right of women to have choice over their bodies, that’s everywhere and all the time. Women are free in France. Sincere apologies to the critics and hypocrites.

Additionally, Playboy defended the article, claiming that Schiappa was the “most ‘Playboy compatible'” of the government ministers “because she is committed to women’s rights and she has understood that it’s not a magazine for old machos but could be a tool for the feminist cause,” editor Jean-Christophe Florentin told AFP. Playboy is a 300-page quarterly “mook” (a combination of a book and a magazine) that is intelligent and in-vogue, not a soft porn publication.

In 2017, Schiappa, a cabinet minister since 2017, was chosen to serve as the nation’s first-ever Minister of Gender Equality. When she was the minister for equality in 2018, she introduced legislation making street harassment and catcalling illegal. The 40-year-old mother of two has previously written about pregnancy, women’s health, and motherhood’s problems.