The French Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy, Marlène Schiappa, has caused a scandal for posing for Playboy magazine in the course of a long interview on feminism, women’s rights and sexist violence. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called her to show her disapproval.
The controversy is not due so much to the fact itself, due to an ethical or moral question, but rather to the fact that the political moment is very inopportune and gives a certain image of frivolity in the action of the Government. The commotion occurs in the middle of the social crisis due to the protests against the pension reform and on the eve of a new union mobilization, this Thursday, against the project that plans to postpone the retirement age by two years.
Schiappa, 40, divorced and the mother of two daughters, is a well-known face on Macron’s team. She is the author of numerous books, her media presence has been frequent since the current president arrived at the Elysee in May 2017. She was Delegate Minister for Citizenship and Secretary of State for Equality before taking up her current position.
The 12-page interview with Schiappa will be published on April 6, but the preview of its content has already given a lot to talk about, especially due to the reaction of the Prime Minister and the leak made by Paris Match magazine about the images and political clothes. “The sexual freedom of women is something very important,” says Schiappa.
Faced with the controversy, the Secretary of State published a tweet in which she stressed that “defending the right of women to dispose of their bodies is something for anywhere and at all times.” According to Schiappa, “in France women are free” and that only annoys “retrogrades and hypocrites”
The Minister of the Interior and one of the strongholds of the Executive, Gérald Darmanin, came out in defense of Schiappa. “Being a liberated woman is not that easy,” said the minister.
The opposition has harshly criticized Schiappa for unleashing a superfluous debate at a time when the country is pending the issue of pensions. “It is a desperate and pathetic attempt to divert attention,” said Aurélie Trouvé, a deputy for La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left).