French Minister Marlene Schiappa’s Appearance on Front Cover of Playboy Sparks Controversy

Marlene Schiappa, the French Secretary of State for Social Economy and Associations, has recently posed for the front cover of Playboy magazine, clothed, in order to accompany a 12-page interview on women’s and gay rights as well as abortion. Schiappa, a 40-year-old feminist author who was plucked from obscurity by President Emmanuel Macron in 2017, is no stranger to controversy and has repeatedly angered right-wingers. However, even the prime minister and left-wing critics feel that Schiappa has made a mistake with her latest stunt. The decision has irritated some colleagues in the government which has been battling strikes and increasingly violent demonstrations against plans to raise the retirement age by two years. The sight of Schiappa wearing designer dresses for a glamour magazine was viewed by some as sending the wrong message, with one person quoted as saying they thought it was an April’s Fool joke when they first heard about it. Playboy has defended the spread which will appear in its French-language edition. Playboy’s editor has said that 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.”