http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/26/venice-female-gondoliers

Alexandra Hai, first working female gondolier, but not licensed. A new woman got the certification.

After nine centuries of keeping women on dry land, Venice broke with tradition today by approving its first female gondolier.

Giorgia Boscolo, 23, a mother of two, came through a gruelling course, which included 400 hours of instruction, to enter an all-male club that has resisted admitting women. “I am immensely happy and proud, but today my day starts like every other, taking the children to school,” she said. “I’ve always loved gondolas and unlike my three sisters I preferred to row with my father instead of going out with my friends.”

She denied that she would not have the physical strength to manoeuvre ­gondolas, saying: “Childbirth is much more difficult.”