French minister Marlene Schiappa under fire for posing for Playboy magazine cover

French Minister Marlene Schiappa is all set to appear on the front cover of Playboy magazine, which is known to display women in skimpy clothes. She has come under severe criticism for this controversial move.

Schiappa, who serves as Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship, will appear on the cover of the April edition of the Playboy magazine in France. She has drawn the ire of both her political opponents and colleagues.

As per a BBC report, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told Schiappa that her decision "was not at all appropriate, especially in the current period."

However, Schiappa defended her decision to appear in the magazine, writing 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."

Défendre le droit des femmes à disposer de leurs corps, c’est partout et tout le temps.
En France, les femmes sont libres.
N’en déplaise aux rétrogrades et aux hypocrites.#Playboy

— 🇫🇷 MarleneSchiappa (@MarleneSchiappa) April 1, 2023

Schiappa, 40, is regular guest on French TV talk shows and was a feminist author before embarking upon a career in politics. She has written about the challenges of motherhood, women's health and pregnancy.

Whilst serving as equalities minister in 2018, Schiappa brought in legislation outlawing catcalling and street harassment.

But this is not the first time she's been involved in a controversy.

Back in 2010 she authored a book which provided sex tips for overweight people, perceived by some critics to be reinforcing harmful clichés.

And in 2017 she was accused of staging a visit to a so-called "no-go area for women" in Paris.

The editor of the French-language edition of Playboy backed Schiappa's decision to appear in the magazine, describing her as the most "Playboy compatible" of ministers in Macron's cabinet, due to her strong and vocal support of women's rights.