Image credits: The Indian Express
The minister of social economy and French associations, Marlene Schiappa, was seen posing for the infamous Playboy magazine, for which she faced heavy criticism. The minister was seen fully clothed on the cover of the magazine, along with a 12-page interview, which talked about women’s and LGBTQ rights.
Schiappa is a feminist writer apart from serving as a minister, and this particular appearance of hers has put up questions from the people of politics as to whether it was the best thing to do or not at this crucial time in French politics. France is seeing political unrest as their present minister has implemented a reform that has raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.
This photoshoot has faced criticism. People in the ministry are talking about how a country’s minister posing for a playboy magazine shows that the country has gone off the rails. MP Sandrine Rousseau told a TV reporter that a woman’s body can be exposed anywhere she wants, but the problem here is that the social context in which Marlene dwells is making her decision look bad.
In defense of the huge criticism faced by people, Marlene took to her social media handle and said that a woman’s body is free to be everywhere and all the time. She continues to say that women are free in France. With all due respect to the distractors and hypocrites,
Playboy magazine has also defended Marlene by giving a statement to the media that Marlene was the most approachable, or “playboy able,” of the other people in the ministry. The editor of the magazine told me that Playboy is not a soft-porn magazine but a 300-page mook (a mix between a book and a magazine), which is on-tread as people read it.
The French Minister Schiappa, who has been appointed as the Gender Equality Minister in 2018, has brought many pieces of legislation into the system. She is known for outlawing the catcalling practice on the streets and for making amendments to stop women’s harassment on the streets.
Marlene is a feminist writer with a powerful pen. She has penned articles on topics like the challenges of motherhood, pregnancy, and women’s health. Her appearance in Playboy magazine is a debatable topic as she comes from an important context in French politics; thus, the ministers are now calling on her as they believe that she is not presenting a good image for the people of the world.
However, she is backed well by the magazine’s editor, who puts some positive light on her and states that she was the most approachable of all the ministers in the parliament house. Marlene, who is 41 years old and a mother of two, has always been bold enough with her choices. And here she has said in her defense that a woman’s body is free to be everywhere at all times.
Marlene, thus, in her defense, stands by her actions by ending her statement with, “With all due respect to the distractors and hypocrites.” The French minister chose to keep her stand firm and allowed the people of her country to decide whether appearing on an allegedly infamous magazine’s cover is a crime or an act of breaking the stereotype. This was left for the people to decide.
