Essay about The Amish

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The Amish
The Amish culture consist of communities of people that have been willingly living life with limited resources, little to no technical advances, but have survived centuries without modern ritual. The Amish communities of the world has survived with home remedies passed down from generation to generation to cure illnesses, has survived with midwives delivering their offspring, and has survived making a living without any knowledge of how to work computers. The Amish culture aspects of living are unthought-of to the many Americans who have to have the latest cell phones on the market, or to the many American families that will hyperventilate if they had to live one day without electricity. The Amish community has structured economic organizations that ensure families as well as communities have the necessary needs, they have sickness and healing rituals that have worked for them for generations past and generations to come, and the gender relations and roles that are set into place are followed and govern the actions of men, women, and children in the communities.
The Amish have been able to maintain ethnic subculture by successfully resisting acculturation and assimilation. The Amish maintain cultural customs that preserve their identity. The Amish have resisted assimilation into American culture by emphasizing separation from the world, rejecting higher education, selectively using technology, and not having interaction with people outside of their culture. The Amish speak English, German, and a dialect known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch. The Amish are horticulturalist and agriculturalist, meaning they cultivate their own fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbal remedies that they use for medicines. The Amish communities are independent people who believe do not believe in depending on external resources, such as banks, pharmacies, and apparel stores. The Amish communities also believe in sewing their own clothing for their families.
The Amish community has been functioning with set economic roles, and set gender roles for many centuries. The males of the Amish community have many roles, they are the leaders of the community, they are the leaders of their household, and they provide for their families financially. The males in the Amish community make a living for their families through trade jobs. Many of the males in the community are farmers, but with the decreasing demand for farmers/ farm helpers many of the males in the Amish community have jobs elsewhere. The Amish males have been known to work in factories, some own personal businesses such as shoe making, furniture making, and others work for others in the community. According to E. Regev “Amish congregations are led by a bishop, minister and deacon, nominated by the local members. Among the Mennonite Brethren almost half of the male members serve in leading positions, nominated by the believers in the congregations” (Regev, E. pg.166). They also do other jobs like own their home base business, working as carpenters and be helpers or laborers in factories (Lemon, B.S. pg. 54). Amish women have many roles in the community, and are essential to the community. The Amish women are the ropes that tie the household together, and keep everything intact. Although the Amish do not contribute financially, they help to ensure their male counterparts have everything needed to complete jobs. The women are considered to be the center of the Amish life. As a wife the Amish women are required to bare the children of the community, they are raised to care for their husbands, their children, their household, and they plan and organize social events. The women in the Amish communities also sew nearly all the clothes for the people in the community. According to Pumell and Paulanka (1998), Amish women bare an average of seven children. Amish women duties extend beyond baring children, they are disciplinarians, they have duties of the church, they are
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