The Amish: comparing and contrasting gender roles

and conflict and cooperation.

The Amish is a religious group with roots to sixteenth century Europe during the
protestant reformation era. They are descendent of the Anabaptists, a religion which
split from the traditional church due to conflicting ideas about infant baptism, which
they did not believe in. Many of the Anabaptists migrated to North America in the
1700s and 1800s for fear of prosecution and one group gave rise to the Amish
movement. Today, the Amish mainly reside in the USA, most notably Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Indiana. Although the Amish follow one religion there are many
different communities in existence therefore variations within the way they live are
common. The lifestyle of the Amish is vastly different to modern society. Segregated
from the modern world they live by different morals and follow different principals,
generally leading a simple life of humility and modesty. This contrast of beliefs and
lifestyle raises the question of whether the Amish way of life is, in some ways, an
idyllic one when compared to modern western culture.
Gender roles are clearly defined in Amish culture. Keeping with their longstanding
traditional values, men are considered the spiritual leaders of both the household and
of the community, a role in which women are forbidden to hold. Men are generally the
bread-winners of the family, they fun the household finances and earn money through
businesses such as farming or carpentry and educate their sons for the same roles.
Women are generally the housewife, homemaker and caregiver of the household, with
roles of taking care of the children, cooking, sowing and cleaning. Womens roles are
then passed onto daughters. Gender roles in the Amish society is rarely challenged
due to long standing traditions being so learly defined. With the impact of
modernisation there have been exceptions to the gender roles of the Amish, with more
women being allowed to assist in financially running businesses especially if they do
not have any children or are unmarried. Despite having some exceptions, the Amish is
still quite restrictive in terms of gender roles when compared to contemporary society.
In contemporary Australian culture up until approximately the mid to late twentieth
century (womens movement 1960s), gender roles were somewhat similar to that of
the Amish culture. Women were the homemakers of the family and the men were the
providers. However this ideal has begun to be challenged as women became more
active and assertive in striving to achieve gender equality. Today, many women have
assumed roles which were in the past, dominated by men, and have been breaking
away from gender sterotypes such as being the housewife to becoming the provider of
the family. Although women today have not achieved complete gender equality and
are still subject to some discrimination, the genders of modern are much more
interchangeable. From a contemporary perspective, Amish gender roles are not the
most ideal in terms of freedom and choice. However, from an Amish point of view,
their gender roles are widely accepted and not subject to challenge.
The Amish lifestyle is one based on cooperation and the community is one with
support with strong family and social ties among its members, who often come
together for cooperative events such as mass and barn-raising, which is a practice of
the entire community helping to build a barn for an Amish member. The whole process
usually takes no more than a day. The Amish ideal of a community is in contrast to its
western counterparts. Communities in modern society refer to more a group of citizens

living in a common area with particular characteristics in common, and of more urban
or larger communities, populations are much bigger than that of the Amish .
Communities in its whole are rarely seen as one with only small rate interactions of
macro or micro scale between neighbours, family or small community meetings
involving a particular group. Larger interactions are infrequent and rarely see every
member of the community together. In this aspect of society, the Amish lifestyle is
more supportive of its respective members with strong emphasis on cooperation thus
is one that is superior and more idyllic than modern Australian society.
The Amish live by a set of rules called the Ordnung, which details the code of
behaviour that all Amish should follow in order to help the community lead a godly life.
Conflict within the community is strongly ruled by the Ordnung and the conservative
traditions of the Amish passed down generations with strong and supportive
upbringing of their young. Their belief in humility, preservation of values and strong
sense of family and community allow their lifestyle to remain conflict-free although if a
member breaks their baptismal vows or disrupts the community with unacceptable
behaviour they are shunned from the community. During runmspringa, Amish
teenagers are exposed to the modern world of which its values and morals might
conflict with their own. Rumspringa is the only time when Amish teenagers are
allowed to stray from their conventional rules of society and so this period may cause
inner conflict of values and may challenge values and beliefs of the teengers. The
Ordnung dictates that the Amish not own anything worldly or pridefull. Most Amish do
not use electricity or phones and prefer more traditional practices such as horsedrawn
buggies instead of cars (although some groups such as the Beachy Amish do accept
many forms of technology). This disconnection from the wider and more modern
society allow the Amish to retain their values and way of life without any disruption
from outer influences. However, with the impact of modernisation, there comes
potential for conflict within Amish society. There is often dispute over whether to
accept some forms of technology or risk tensions between members and/or a loss of
the communitys ability to be self-dependent. They also remain subject to modern
American laws and some disagreements between beliefs and lifestyles can cause
debates and conflict between the Amish and the wider world.
Although conflict exists in the Amish, it is mild in comparison to conflict in modern
society. Rarely is there incidents of malice such as murder or abuse, of which it is
extremely widespread, in Amish communities. Amish culture is one in which the
authority of high figures of God, bishops, ministers deacons and fathers of families are
yielded and followed without much disagreement. Their culture is one of submission to
higher powers and this allows the Amish to be one in which conflict is almost nonexistent. Their ideal is one of humility, rather than the modern ideal of personal
fulfilment. Conflict is a frequent occurrence in comtemporary society whether it is one
between personal values and beliefs or physical conflicts arising from disagreements.
Wars are fought and political opinions and leadership positions are constantly
challenged. There are many beliefs and religions that exist outside Amish communities
and in modern society that often give rise to conflicts of ideologies. Globalisation and
technology also expose many of the population to outside influences which may cause
rebellion from authorative figures such as parents or governing bodies. Modern
communities are much less tight-knit and ideaologies are not as imposed on members
allowing many to form their own and giving many opportunities for conflict. The

element of conflict in Amish society is undeniably a more idyllic one as compared to

that of contemporary society.
The question of whether the Amish lifestyle is an idyllic one without the pressures
experienced in most other contemporary western cultures, in some ways, it is. For
example in terms of conflict and cooperation in the community, there is less pressure
in Amish communities with much more support present than modern communities.
However, in other aspects such as gender roles, the Amish culture is more restrictive
and less idyllic than contemporary societies.