Barred: “None for me, thanks, I’m a Bolivian woman.” (Wix)
Who doesn’t like a nice glass of vino with their meal, eh? Well, my mate Gav for one, who thinks wine is the closest earthly thing to the devil’s urine. But for most people who aren’t Gav, the odd glass of wine every now and then is a perfectly fine treat.
If you happen to be a married woman in La Paz, Bolivia, however, then you’d better make the most of it—because one glass is all you’re getting.
A statute on the city’s law books states that a married woman in La Paz is legally permitted just one glass of wine in a public location (i.e. a bar or restaurant) inside the city limits. Why such a draconian law? Well, apparently it’s all about fidelity: the law remains in place because women who have more than one glass of wine are more likely to get impossibly rowdy and end up cheating on their husbands.
In fact, a married woman’s liking for more than one glass of wine with dinner is a perfectly permissible grounds for her husband to file for divorce in Bolivian law. Her husband, naturally, can drink whatever he likes.