Outsider's View on Amish Culture

Environment

One of the most advanced countries to this day, America, is a melting pot of different ethnicities. However, when we analyze those ethnicities, individuals still fall back on their predetermined list of races; White, Hispanic, Black, etc. Here’s a shocker, it is not that simple! When one classifies people in those earlier mentioned categories, one is just classifying them into broad and general races. In contrast, categorizing communities into different ethnic groups gives rise to many more accurate subcultures that have settled in the Americas. For example, one of the most similar, yet profoundly distant subculture of America are the Amish.

This ethnic group resides where we do, North America! Specifically, the densest populations of Amish communities are found in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Still, even though they occupy the same territory as us other fellow Americans, they live in environments that are far from what modern Americans would think to be comfortable. Amish communities have primarily adopted a solitary, agricultural lifestyle that is they try to live on farms away from other non-Amish communities. By adopting this agricultural lifestyle they heavily rely on livestock, like chicken, hogs, and bull calves and annual crops like corn, wheat, and oats which all sum up to create the ideal Amish meadow/pasture. In addition, they enjoy the same climate conditions common to the east coast. They are exposed to the normal seasons, with little variation year to year however, conditions can vary within a year and depending on which part of the Americas they have settled in.  For example, those who live in Pennsylvania or Ohio experience harsh winter conditions like heavy rain and snow fall, which have gone up to annual averages of 50 inches, so if there are to be any adaptations this is where we would see it.

Adaptations

Genetic

Having originated from western Europe, Amish genetically carry the code for light skin. This wasn’t because they were just born this way, but goes back to the idea of natural selection favoring those with adaptive traits that led them to survive and pass on their genes. In this case, the Amish came from a region of the world were individuals were not exposed to a lot of sunlight. This led to the small amount of melanin they possess, which was favored by natural selection in that region (note: it was more that there wasn’t a greater survival of those with more melanin, so natural selection didn’t care as much for those with more melanin in Europe). As they migrated to the Americas, they retained their long term, European based adaption to less sunlight exposure; lighter skin.

Having migrated recently, this does not give Amish enough time for them to have developed physical adaptation to their current environment. However, they still have retained their original adaptation from Europe. Another physical adaptation is their height and stature. We seem to think that because people match the normal height and stature, that they have not experienced the hand of adaptation, but this is a notion that is flawed. Europeans, including the Amish, evolved the appropriate height and stature which reflects the environment prominent in Europe; somewhere between hot and cold. This “in between” body size was adapted for optimal balance of homeostasis in response to the environment.

Cultural

Moving on from long-term, physical adaptations which are passed down through genetics, the Amish have evolved different cultural adaptations over time to the stresses of their current environment. One of these adaptations is very similar to what other subcultures of America do when faced with a harsh winter conditions that is utilize blankets, thick coats, snow boots, and other clothes to trap heat in addition to utilizing one of the most primitive tools; fire. The Amish have also culturally adapted simplistic clothing for everyday wear to one, further themselves from the life style of non-Amish cultures (to preserve the Amish culture) and two, keep them from over heating during hot days on the farm. Finally, a main cultural adaptation, which also reflects the Amish lifestyle, is the adaption of an agricultural lifestyle which stays away from modern technological advances. The Amish have sort of evolved to live without the “burdens” of technology (as they would see it). This agricultural lifestyle has helped preserve the Amish lifestyle and culture, so in theory this adaptation is favored by its culture. However, this does not imply that the survival will depend on whether or not the offspring of an Amish couple will accept this lifestyle or not, which will be analyzed later on.

 

Language

            Just like any ethnicity, there is a certain language they adapt, the Amish are no different. This subculture has adopted a type of German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch. However, Amish children are thought English in school and the language used most often, due to the heavy reliance on funds from tourism, is written and spoken English. There are also special occasion, like religious events, where High German is used.

Gender Roles

            The Amish, being a conservative culture, rely heavily on the traditional gender roles, man and woman. With this traditional view on the different genders, come the traditional roles of each. The Amish believe that the man should portray the role of the head of the house and have the final say. The men are also responsible for all the hard, manual work, like the farming and building shelter. Still, this does not mean that the role of women is to only obey the will of their husband. The women are more submissive, but women do have certain roles needed for Amish society to run smoothly. For example, the women are responsible for making clothing, quilts, producing the high energy food items (like butter), and simply keeping the family together. These roles are pretty much set in stone for the Amish, and the only clear way to have these gender roles cross is by living a non-Amish lifestyle. For example, an individual like the hermaphrodite from “The Blessed Curse” would definitely not be accepted in the community and most likely be shunned.

Their culture, in a way, is also defined by their discrete gender roles. A contemporary feminist might see this as holding back the full potential that these Amish women are capable of unleashing. However, these Amish women do not necessarily experience any negative consequences of having such gender roles. With the uprising of tourism, women started to take on more roles than just cooking and producing goods for their families, instead they now help manufacture products that are sold in shops, this way the women are bringing in money and having a more profound role in society. These roles are thought to Amish children from birth, and when one reaches an age of readiness they are responsible to start taking respective gender roles.

Subsistence

            Coming back to this idea that the Amish have adopted a simplistic lifestyle, we can see why they have strived for so long on their simple subsistence pattern; agricultural. It is true that the evolution of an agricultural lifestyle was advancing, however the Amish have strictly held back from modern day advances on agriculture, and still possess simple techniques and methods for harvesting crop and maintaining livestock. Having this simplistic agricultural mode of subsistence, the Amish try to grow and harvest simple food items. For example, they heavily rely on annual crop like corn, wheat, oats, but they also put effort into harvesting seasonal goods like different fruits and vegetables. In addition to all these carbohydrates, the Amish do enjoy protein and foods rich in fat. They raise livestock from chicken and hogs to bull calves and cows just for milking. It is then safe to say that the Amish do have a balanced and nutritional diet, if not a better one than our fast food nation’s diet.

           Even though the Amish have strict, traditional genders they still believe in an egalitarian social relation that is, they believe that all should be treated equal no matter who has a more prominent gender role. Just because the men are seen as having the authority figure doesn’t mean that they will be the only ones who enjoy that year’s harvest. In all actuality, in the Amish culture, it is warranted that all family members participate in helping around the farm. From a young age, boy or girl, Amish children are thought to always be involved around the farm because that is their lifestyle and they rely heavily on the harvest because they have almost completely shut themselves off from the modernized world.

           

Economy

            This discussion of the Amish culture makes it sound like they are completely shut off from the rest of America. Even though the Amish people have tried very hard to not place themselves into America’s modern society, they are still part of America’s system. Due to the fact that they live in America, they use the same currency as we do when dealing with transactions. Yes, the Amish have adopted a simplistic lifestyle, but 

there is no way one can avoid America’s vast monetary system. To us outsiders, it might even seem taboo but Amish even use credit cards! There lifestyle of farming is by no means a way of income, and any surplus of food goes nowhere except the dinner table. All in all, the Amish do live a simple lifestyle with an agricultural mode of subsistence; however they still participate in the same economy system as we do.

Marriage

            The Amish religion, seen as “radical Christians” which will be discussed in more detail later, has governed their way of marriage. The Amish are monogamous people, who morally believe that divorce is wrong, and it is never an option. The Amish do not have any sort of systematic aspects of marriage that is they do not ask for dowry or have arranged marriages. Marriage is determined by a man asking a woman for her hand in marriage, sound familiar? An Amish man doesn’t seek for any sort of economic benefit or a gain in power, instead they seek for a woman who will be a good housewife and run a proper Amish family. Here, we can see that the male does the picking, in contrast with the animal kingdom where males have to fight over other males for the chance of copulation, Even though an Amish woman might be ready to marry, she will have to wait for a man to pick her over the others.

            The Amish, being a tight knit community, believe that endogamy is the only way to keep the Amish culture true, and stay away from the wider “evil world.” There are exceptions to those individuals who completely have decided to leave behind the Amish culture, but in that case the Amish community no longer sees him/her as a true Amish individual. After marriage, Amish couples will most likely move in with the husband’s parents that is, they practice a patrilocal residence pattern. Due to the fact that Amish are dedicated to a strict lifestyle, with discrete genders, and want to keep the Amish culture pure, they see homosexuals as part of the “evil world.” This has a lot to do with their strong beliefs in Christianity. An important thing to note here is that sometimes because of this goal of having a pure Amish society, a lot of intermarriage does occur between the Amish sometimes knowingly and unknowingly.

Kinship

            While the Amish prize their female counterparts, kinship is frequently determined by patrilineal descent. This is not to say that females are totally ignored, remembering that they are an egalitarian society, matrilineal descent is still present but less emphasized. Seeing that there is a heavy influence on the male gender, it can be inferred that males have more authority. This is a redundant theme through Amish culture that males have the most authority and are heavily influential. Because they have the more power than the females, they inherit land and any type of inheritance through descent lines. The Amish use titles like son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, husband, etc. and this reflects a sort of hybrid of Eskimo and Iroquois naming system.

Social and Political Organization

            Moving on to the aspect of social organization of the Amish culture, there have been multiple hints that the Amish display an egalitarian social relation. Even though the male of the household has greater influence, all individuals of the family reap the benefits equally and put in the same amount of work, even though the type of work might differ.

            Even though the Amish leave and abide by the laws of America, they seem to not have a specialized form of government. Unlike other cultures in America who separate church and state, political power is usually found in the head of church; ministers. These ministers, just like politicians, are chosen by the Amish people and if anyone is seen to have some sort of influence over the whole Amish community it is the minister. Like mentioned before, they follow all the same laws we follow, but because power is primarily found in the church, they follow other laws as well. For example, the way they dress and the way they conduct their lifestyle is heavily monitored. If an Amish were to go against the lifestyle choice of staying away from the outside world, like being part of a law firm, then they would primarily be shunned from the community. We need to note however that they do not only disregard serving in the military or violence, but that they also do not rely on social security or any other type of insurance.

           

Violence

Seeing that the Amish follow strict Christian guidelines, they prohibit any type of violence, ranging from bearing arms to holding government office. However, Amish are not immune from experiencing violence from the outside world. For instance, there is a right of passage for adolescence known as Rumspringa, where an Amish adolescence is allowed to go out into the real world and decide on whether or not they want to leave the Amish life style behind. Here, the sheltered Amish individuals experience a culture shock full of different things and activities that are deemed “evil” or “violent” in the Amish community. When individuals come back they either realize that this world full of interesting things is or isn’t for them, and one factor that comes into play is this positive factor of the Amish community frowning upon violence.

Religion

            Finally, moving on to the aspect of Amish culture that primarily sets the parameters of life, religion is seen as the dominating force that guides the Amish community to live a lifestyle voided of the outside world. Christianity is a religion followed by many, and the Amish are one of those groups. There current monotheistic religion was based on their traditional Anabaptist beliefs that only adults should be baptized under God’s name and that “true Christians” should not hold government office, stay away from any type of violence, show humility and obedience. They follow an unwritten code of behavior known as the Ordnung whose reinforcement of the rules depends on the bishop. The Amish believe that the Bible is the word of God, and because of that everything said in must be true, and this is where the Amish obtain there idea of how life all began.

A unique event that characterizes Christianity practiced by the Amish, is in the above mentioned fact that they perform adult baptisms and absolutely believe that to be a good Amish and Christian one must void themselves of the outside world which is full of evil and violence. The Amish believe to be a good Christian one does not have to part take in rituals, but instead listen to the Word of God. In their culture, one does not need giant symbols and fancy churches to show their fate, to them genuine worship is found in community action among each other. Religion in this culture seems to dictate life. Without it, it seems the Amish culture would deteriorate due to the fact that a lot of their lifestyle is based on the Word of God and wanting to uphold the image of a good Christian.

 

Art

            Just as the Amish have a simplistic lifestyle, they possess simplistic art. The Amish are heavily influenced by music and dance. At any sort of celebration, like a wedding, it has been noted that the Amish sing and into the late hours, in addition to singing during any religious events. However, it is important to note that the Amish do not encourage using musical instruments because it is considered “worldly and vain.” This allows the Amish to have some sort of art form that is fun, yet not go against there value thus living within the ideal Amish lifestyle. Amish artwork seems to be an innovation in response to the increase interest in tourists wanting to visit and learn about their communities. Amish have adopted artwork for the purposes of profit. In a way, people can enjoy the simple Amish paintings while the Amish benefit from another source of income. Other than just art, the Amish enjoy other activities like gardening and playing sports like volleyball or softball, however we have to remember that they play for fun and not for the competition of it.

           

Conclusion

            The Amish culture has tried very hard throughout the years, since their settlement here in America, to void them of the outside, evil world. Still as hard as they tried, the Amish have been influenced both positively and negatively by many of the other cultures that inhabit America. If treat the Amish culture as the in group, and we compare them to the rest of America as an out group culture, we can already see that the out group culture is more prominent than the Amish. America’s culture has had a negative influence on the Amish culture, because the standards that the Amish live by directly oppose those adopted by many of us Americans today. However, we have also positively influenced them because in the recent years, tourism has increased in Amish communities, and the out group has provided them with a source of income for just being who they are.

            The Amish had traveled to the Americas a while back, and are still thriving on their strict, simplistic lifestyle. Needless to say, the Amish culture is in no way threatened to go into extinction. They have almost existed in “homeostasis” with the outside world and survive on their agricultural lifestyle.

            In conclusion, we go back to the idea that America is just one big melting pot of different ethnicities and cultures and the Amish just happen to be one of them. Even though there numbers are small, the Amish culture is a culture known by almost all the inhabitants of America. So even though they do not posses such large roles, their name possess much notoriety.