The Amish: Plain and Simple

Environment 

The culture that I chose for this project is the Amish. The Amish have a rich and historic culture and are primarily located in the North American states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Most notably, however, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The climate that the Amish live in is very humid with hot or very warm summers. The average snowfall during the winter is 5.5 cm with 4.56 precipitation during the fall. All seasons take place within this environment. The Amish live in a rural setting that is away from urban influence. There is no level of high competition among other cultures around them because they purposely try and isolate themselves from the “outside world” as they put it. There has recently been an increase in the culture’s population with 221,000 residents in 2008. 

Agriculture has always been a major part of the Amish lifestyle. Horses are an iconic identity of the Amish that help them plow, cultivate, and harvest crops. They use farm animals, such as cows, pigs, goats, and chickens in order to obtain foods and other nutrients from these animals. There is not much environmental stress except for the winters where the Amish must obtain from using electricity, therefore making it harder for them to keep warm. They have fire places and heavy coats to keep them warm during the winter. 

Adaptations

Since a large group of Amish descend from about 200 eighteenth century funders, there have been many genetic disorders due to inbreeding that may exist in the more isolated areas. These disorders include dwarfism, Angelman Syndrome, and other metabolic disorders. However, many Amish live a very clean lifestyle with very little tobacco and alcohol use. They also wear long sleeves and wide-brimmed hats that protect them from the sun. Because of their dressing styles, there are very low rates of skin cancer. This adaptation helps keep the Amish from acquiring such diseases and viruses. 

Cultural adaptations that help the Amish adapt to their environment include their garments to keep them from the sun, their farming lifestyle in order to help them acquire food and sustain themselves nutritionally, and their way of transportation in order to take them from place to place. They use horses and buggies in order to travel from neighboring cities. They may also take the train for public transportation and may be a passenger in a modern car. For kids, there is a large taboo on bicycles so they must use non-motorized scooters. The Amish are unique in the way that they choose to not take part in modern technology, therefore, they adapt to their environments with a more rural take on almost everything they do. 

Language

The Amish speak a special kind of combination language called Pennsylvania Deutsch that has a dialect in German. This language has gradually come to be known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch. This language binds the Amish together that would naturally limit the interaction with many non-Amish or “English” people as they would put it. The Amish learn English in school but also learn High German for worship services. They use these languages interchangeably except for when they hold worship services, in which Standard German or Hochdeitsch is used. 

Gender Roles

The gender roles of the Amish are very traditional. Chores are clearly divided by gender role within the culture. Men usually do the work on the farm with the women helping from time to time. Men are also in charge of the financial matters whereas women are in charge of the cooking, washing, cleaning, Kids are supposed to take on identifying with their parent of gender. Boys will go with the men to work and girls will stay indoors with the women to help. The mindset is that these roles were given to them by God and women are not inferior, but they are subordinate. 

These roles are are instilled within both genders at the time of childhood into adulthood, therefore, there are not many who would break these roles. There are some exceptions to these rules but mostly, everyone must abide by them. Children are disciplined in a strict manner where the child will receive corporal punishment if he is disobedient. The biology and gender of the child seem to be very traditional to what roles have been for men and women throughout history. There is no new take or new unique perceptions to these given gender roles. It is all very traditional. 

The Amish are very private when it comes to talking about sex and sexual relations. They simply look the other way if a person were to act out in any certain way. For example, if the protagonist in the story “The Blessed Curse” were to join this culture, the Amish would not talk about her gender and try to keep it as closed as possible until perhaps after their death. 

Subsistence 

The traditional subsistence pattern of the Amish culture is agriculture. Almost all Amish families farm and take care of animals in order to sustain themselves. They plant, cultivate, and harvest their food throughout the year. They main foods that make up the culture’s diet reflect influences of the Amish’s German Heritage and a rejection of rapid change. One of the most popular dishes are broths that usually include ingredients like egg noodles, fish, poultry, mashed potatoes, flour, rice, dumplings, and fried bread. They have German dishes like Borscht as well, but mainly cook with basic carb related ingredients. Because it is easy to store these types of foods, many of the dishes are year round. The world is divided up where women and girls do the cooking, period. Boys and men do the farm work that would acquire the ingredients, but women know how to make the dishes and have knowledge in storing the supplies. Their diet is very easy to obtain. There are no rare ingredients that the Amish need in order to sustain themselves throughout the year. 

Economic Systems

The Amish does hardly produces any surplus in food other than to sustain themselves because they believe that the paycheck they receive is the food from their labor. This is why they do not see it well to sell it to others in order to sustain themselves. The specialization of labor that this culture has is agriculture. They are very knowledgable in farming techniques and use very little machinery in order to help them. This culture uses dollars are their currency but hardly acquire any wealth because it is seen as not humble and part of the Christian traditionalist faith. However, during the 1940’s there was a shift in what the Amish were using to plow their farms. There was a steadily decline in the horses they used to farm. Instead of horses, they used tractors and because of this they made a business in buying parts for tractors. There was a boom in the 1970’s and 1980’s that the Amish had due to four types of industries they obtained. These four industries are: cottage industries, large shops like farm machinery and lawn furniture, mobile carpentry and construction crews, and retail stores where they could sell hardware, appliances, clothing, furniture, quilts, and crafts. 

Marriage

Marriage within the Amish culture is very traditional. Many weddings take place after the autumn harvest and are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The type of marriage that occurs monogamous because of their Christian upbringing. The Amish use a term called Rumspringa which means “running around.” During this period, many adolescents begin a time of serious courtship. The time for courtship is usually around the age of sixteen although some girls may start at the age of fourteen. After this, they usually are baptized into the church and marry shortly after. After marriage, the newly wed couple goes to friends and relatives houses in order to receive many gifts. This can take a number of weeks after the wedding ceremony. There is really no value on the any of the gender since its a communal wedding and the ceremony is very simple and plain. 

Some exogamy rules about marriage is that Amish who marry outside of the religion are not to be wedded within the church. In other words, an Amish boy must marry a member within the Amish culture in order to receive a baptism and a ceremony within the church. In terms of residence patterns, many newly weds move into a house within a span of six months. The attitude toward homosexual relationships within the Amish world is that it is forbidden. Many who may be homosexual would most likely hide it from their community for the rest of their lives. 

Kinship

Most of the Amish were descended from about 200 18th century founders. They marry within their culture only which is why so many have genetic disabilities. The culture is very male dominated where the man makes the financial decisions, and works in the farms. Women are seen as subordinate. Goods and property are passed along through the men’s side. The Eskimo kinship system does match the Amish kinship system because they address their people such as brother, mother, father, and sister for each individual. 

Social Organization 

The Amish culture is stratified in a way where the man is seen as the dominant gender. Gender plays a major role in that it defines your place within the culture. There is no mobility within status levels unless a man were to randomly be chosen from a lot to be a minister or deacon. 

Political Structure

There is no major political power except for ministers, bishops and deacons. Each district has usually two or three ministers, one deacon and one bishop, who is shared between two districts. These people are chosen by lots of men from each district. A minister is not viewed as an honor, but rather as a serious responsibility. A person must be baptized in order to be chosen as a minister. Usually these choosing happen when a minister dies or a district is too large and must divide. It is an emotional process for each man so there is usually a two week notice that they will be choosing from a lot. Law is unspoken and determined by a term called Ordnung. If anyone breaks these laws they can be excommunicated or shunned. For smaller children, corporal punishment takes place. 

The Roles of Violence 

Two ways that violence occurs is corporal punishment for children and minors and excommunication where they expel a member from their culture. These acts of violence are viewed as negatively because many of the Amish try to use these punishments as a last resort.  

Religion

The Amish practice traditionalist Christian. Many subgroups have their own version of this faith but many follow a book called the Ausband which was published in German in 1564 after the reformation period. This is related to Christianity, which is monotheistic. They worship God and sing together in hymns. There is no origin story of how they came to be but the Ausband has a large number of traditional Hymns that connect them to the past. One of the most interesting practices that the Amish do is hold worship services in members homes rather than in churches. Services are conducted every other Sunday with members taking turns to host the worship service. There is usually a meal after the service which includes mainly side dishes and desserts after which social interactions take place. Religion is extremely important to the Amish that it would not survive as a culture without it. This religion is the back bone to the communities that bind them all together. The services preach a simple way of life and good-doing, which is everything the Amish aspire to be. 

Art

The Amish create quilts and crafts in order to sustain their way of living. They also make furniture that is made of 100% wood. Furniture making in the Amish community is often a skill because it is passed through many generations. Many of the shops that Amish work in are run by hydraulic and pneumatic power that is run on diesel generators. No piece is identical to the other. In terms of music, the amish sing primarily in German. They sing in ancient styles that is not found anywhere in Europe. Singing is a major part of the Amish churches with some songs taking 15 minutes or longer to sing. The Amish do not really take part in dancing but rather singing in faster hymns. 

Conclusion 

The Amish have been living in their culture for many years and it has changed very little. On the one hand, the Amish have not been lenient when it comes to comprising their culture for modern lifestyles. At the same time, they face a threat from modern society when it comes to having their children not get persuaded to live outside of the community. I believe that with the current numbers from a census taken in 2010, the Amish are thriving and are not in danger of losing their culture. Their identity is to live a simple and plain life and they have done so many years without compromising with the outside world. I feel that the roles that the Amish plays in modern society is nonexistent. Many people view the Amish as a backwards and traditional type of people. Therefore, there is a very weak influence that the Amish has over the modern world. 

Bibliography

https://books.google.com/books?id=HUljBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77&dq=the+amish+and+intersex&source=bl&ots=xCJizeTlEe&sig=KvwP3ulAjv4S4niVtfgvdeKGvFo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNgKifrojNAhVT1WMKHf7SAf4Q6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=the%20amish%20and%20intersex&f=false

http://www.discoverlancaster.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-country/amish-education-and-work.asp

http://www.amishnews.com/amisharticles/traditionalfamily.htm