• Controversial Marlène Schiappa, French Secretary of State, poses on the cover of Playboy

It was the news of yesterday in France: stuffed in a white body with a heart attack and the French flag in the background, Marlène Schiappa (40) on the cover of Playboy sitting in an armchair, with her legs open and the air of Marianne descocada. Schiappa is no actress or reality star. Not even a second-tier politician in search of attention, but the Secretary of State for Social and Solidarity Economy of the Macron Government. The choice of this medium to give an interview, which will be published on April 6 to talk about feminism and women's freedom has not sat well with her colleagues in the French Executive. Even Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne has criticized her for saying that her appearance in Playboy is "not appropriate" amid protests over the approval of pension reform.

While some have criticized Schiappa's political exhibitionism, others have applauded his courage and his freedom to dispose of his body freely. She herself has defended her decision to appear in the magazine with a tweet published on Saturday. "Defending women's right to dispose of their bodies must be done everywhere and all the time. In France, women are free. Bad that they weigh on retrogrades and hypocrites," he wrote. Although the interview is real, the cover image that was released yesterday is fake.

According to several media, it is a montage in which they have added the face of the Secretary of State to a photo from an image bank. In fact, Schiappa appears quite covered in the report, which has advanced Le Parisien, with a long white dress. In any case, the controversy in France is served. She is the first politician to pose for the magazine and has given a 12-page interview.

Its editor, Jean-Christophe Florentin, backed the decision by Schiappa, whom he has described as the "most Playboy-friendly" political woman for her vocal support for women's rights. In addition, he has assured that Playboy, founded by Hugh Hefner, millionaire thanks to the nudity of its pages, is no longer a soft porn magazine, but a quarterly 'mook' (acronym in English of magazine and book) of trends, although the magazine still carries "some pages of naked girls".

It's not the first time Schiappa has been in the eye of the storm. The daughter of a historian and a high school director, she studied Geography at the Sorbonne and has a diploma in communication. Before turning to politics, she worked in an advertising agency and as a journalist in several media and different feminist blogs, such as Maman travaille (mom works), created in 2008 and aimed at active women, which was very successful. She is also the author of some forty books dedicated to motherhood, equality and women.

Divorced and mother of two daughters, she has been Minister of Equality during Macron's first term (2017-2020) and then Minister Delegate of Citizenship (2020-22). In 2010 she wrote a book of sexual advice for obese people and in 2017 she was accused of staging a visit to La Chapelle-Pajol, the so-called "no-go zone for women" in Paris. In 2018 he introduced a law banning verbal sexual harassment on the street.

According to the satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné she is also the author of severalerotic books signed with the pseudonym of Marie Minelli, works with titles such as How to transform your boyfriend into Brad Pitt in 30 days. The press office of politics, however, has denied it.

Schiappa married in 2006 the essayist Cédric Brugière, father of her two daughters, with whom she has maintained a relationship of 20 years with ups and downs until they separated. Paris Match revealed in March that she is currently in a relationship with Matthias Savignac, president of the National Education Mutual Society (MGEN), whom she met during a trip to New York. The magazine describes him as a "athletic-looking" fifties with "tattoos that pierce the cuffs of the shirt."

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