Women’s Rights: 1
Tradition: 0
Venice has broken a nine hundred year-old tradition by certifying its first female gondolier. The trade, normally handed down from father to son, recently opened up to everyone when the city of Venice introduced an official gondoliering course in 2007. That course has just had its first female graduate, the Guardian reported.
Giorgia Boscolo, a 23 year-old mother of two, said that she’s always been enchanted with gondolas and that childbirth is much more difficult than maneuvering the large boats through narrow canals. Boscolo had to take 400 hours of coursework and prove a detailed knowledge of Venice’s labyrinth of waterways.
It will be interesting to see how accepted she will be by the other gondoliers, but one thing’s for certain, she’ll certainly be getting a lot of customers until more female gondoliers start plying the waters of Venice and the novelty wears off.
Any bets on what year will be the last year to have a female “first”? There are a lot more barriers left to break. Running a gondola isn’t exactly walking on the moon, but it cuts the number by one, and that’s something to be proud of.