France Minister slammed for appearing on ‘Playboy’ magazine cover

French Minister Marlene Schiappa has come under fire for appearing on the cover of ‘Playboy’ magazine, an American men’s lifestyle magazine.

Hyderabad: French Minister Marlene Schiappa has come under fire for appearing on the cover of ‘Playboy’ magazine, an American men’s lifestyle and entertainment magazine notoriously known for its centrefolds of semi-nude images.

According to reports, the French edition of this magazine will feature the Minister who is dressed in full clothes alongside her 12-page interview on women’s and LGBT rights. This will be the first time a female politician appears on the cover of ‘Playboy’.

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Politicians, including France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, criticised her appearance and said it wasn’t appropriate. Several others took to social media platforms to express their views on the same.

Defending herself, Schiappa wrote on Twitter: “Defending the right of women to do what they want with their bodies: everywhere and all the time. In France, women are free. Whether it annoys the retrogrades and hypocrites or not.”

‘Playboy’ also defended their issue. Schiappa was the most ‘Playboy’ compatible of government ministers because she is attached to the rights of women and she has understood that it’s not a magazine for old machos but could be an instrument for the feminist cause, said the editor Jean-Christophe Florentin, according to ‘AFP’.

The 40-year-old feminist and sapiosexual identifying Minister was chosen in 2017 to serve as the nation’s first-ever Minister of Gender Equality. She was successful in advancing a new rule against sexual harassment that allows men to be fined immediately for catcalling, harassing, or following women on the street. She is a mother of two and is a writer who specialises in female-related topics.