French minister Marlene Schiappa poses for cover of Playboy France

A French minister has been told her actions were “not appropriate” after she posed on the front cover of Playboy.

Marlene Schiappa’s Playboy cover.

One of France’s most senior politicians is in hot water after she posed for the front cover of Playboy magazine.

Social economy minister Marlene Schiappa, 40, wore a revealing dress for the French edition of Playboy.

The country’s second highest ranking politician Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the photo shoot “wasn’t appropriate”.

But Ms Schiappa responded by calling her detractors “hypocrites” and reminding them that “women are free”.

French minister Marlene Schiappa in 2017 speaking at the French National Assembly, in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / Bertrand GUAY

The contentious cover comes during a time of unrest in France with major demonstrations and strikes against pension reforms pushed through parliament by President Emmanuel Macron.

Ms Schiappa, who was a feminist author before entering politics, served as equalities minister in 2018 where she spearheaded laws to criminalise catcalling on the street.

She has also written extensively on women’s health, motherhood and sexuality.

For the April edition of Playboy she posed fully clothed in a white dress and earrings.

Marlène Schiappa, Secretary of State to Emmanuel Macron, has caused controversy by posing on the front page of Playboy. It doesn't get more French than that. 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/tWwrYInAaF

— Kiplagat (@KipChes) April 3, 2023

The cover drew the ire of Elisabeth Borne, the French PM whose role is largely confined to domestic issues.

She said it “wasn’t appropriate, especially during this period,” reported French TV station BFMTV, apparently a reference to the current protests.

Former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon said the Playboy cover showed “France was going off the rails”.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne was not impressed. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

Greens MP Sandrine Rousseu echoed Ms Borne’s view that the timing was ill advised.

“Women’s bodies should be able to be exposed anywhere, I don’t have a problem with that, but there’s a social context.”

But Ms Schiappa brushed off the brickbats.

On the weekend she took to Twitter.

“Defending the right of women to do what they want with their bodies: that’s everywhere and all the time,” she wrote.

“In France, women are free. Whether it annoys the detractors and hypocrites or not.”

France has been rocked by protests against a law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Playboy France editor Jean-Christophe Florentin said Ms Schiappa was the most “Playboy compatible” of ministers - because of her work for women’s rights.

“Playboy is not a soft porn magazine but a 300-page quarterly ‘mook’ that is intellectual and on trend,” he said.

“Mook” is a mixture of a book and magazine, according to Mr Florentin, who added that while there were a “few undressed women” in Playboy it was not the majority of the publication.

French interior minister Gérald Darmanin came out in support of Ms Schiappa saying she was a “woman of character”.

“Marlene Schiappa is a courageous female politician who has her character and who has her style – which is not mine, but I respect it.”