
French government minister Marlene Schiappa has come under fire from members of her own party after appearing on the cover of Playboy magazine.
Schiappa, who has been a government minister since 2017, appeared on the magazine's cover as she gave a 12-page interview about women's and LGBT rights. Schiappa, who is the current Minister for Social Economy and French Associations, is pictured for the cover wearing white underwear.
Schiappa has been a long-time advocate for women's rights and was appointed as the country's first Minister of Gender Equality in 2017. In this role, she successfully spearheaded a new sexual harassment law that allows fines instead of men who catcall, harass or stalk women on the street.
Her appearance has drawn criticism from political colleagues, including French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
Borne said her appearance was "not appropriate, especially during this period".
This is as France is currently on the brink of a political and social crisis caused by French President Emmanuel Macron's move to push ahead with pension reform despite widespread public opposition.
"We are in the middle of a social crisis, there is the issue of policing, there are people between life and death and I have the impression that I am behind a smoke screen," said Sandrine Rousseau, Green Party politician and women's rights activist .
French politician Jean Luc Mélenchon, who came third in the 2022 presidential election, criticized Schiappa's appearance and French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to give an interview to children's magazine Pif Gadget this week.
"In a country where the President expresses himself in Pif and his minister in Playboy, the problem would be the opposition. France is going off the rails,” Mélenchon tweeted on Saturday.
Schiappa responded to her critics in a tweet on Saturday, saying: “Defending women's right to control their own bodies is everywhere, all the time. In France, women are free. With all due respect to evildoers and hypocrites.”
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin came to Schiappa's defense during an interview with French news channel CNews on Sunday, calling her a "woman of character".
"I wanted to say that Marlene Schiappa is a courageous female politician who has her own character and who has her own style that is not mine, but I respect her," he said.