Amish and Australian Adolescence

Anonymous
Culture is a fundamental factor in the creation of identity and the dictations of gender within
communities. Culture defines the attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, and values of a community,
and understanding its distinctness will henceforth lead to a better comprehension of its
influence on identity, gender, and its effect on adolescence.

In Amish societies, it is described by The Amish Village, an informative blog on the Amish
online, that they have 4 core values that act as pillars to live their lives by. These are: faith,
family, community, and simplicity.
Faith describes their devotion to living a life of service and gratitude to God and the teachings
of the Bible. Their devotion to God is important to understand just why the Amish live as they
do, as religion is a deciding factor in how they will go about their daily lives. To name an
example, from the Book of Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament it states “thou shall love thy
neighbour as thyself”. Because of this, people within Amish communities will assist each other
with chores and often form a close bond with one another. Adolescence will learn to be kind
and helpful, as it states in the Bible. To compare this with Australian adolescence, because of
Australia’s multiculturality, many children draw different conclusions about how to treat one
another. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a census in 2021 showed that 43.9%
of Australians affiliated themselves with Christianity, 38.9% with no religion, and >20% with
Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Even so, it's not common for Australian people to devote
themselves too closely to a religion, and instead values and ethics often come from popular
culture and opinions of people whom they are close with.
Family is an important aspect of living for an Amish person. Families are often very close and
spend almost all their time together. Amish families will run businesses together, eat together,
attend communal activities together etc. A strong work ethic is often instilled within an Amish
adolescent very quickly and children and teenagers are expected to help their parents
perpetually. This also relates closely to the community value, and it is important for Amish to
use their skills closely together, to support and ensure continuity for their communities. Amish
Studies: The Young Centre on their website says, “Members are taught to obey those with
authority over them: children their parents, students their teachers...”. Authority is a strong
theme within the Amish, more so with men than women, as men are the head of their families.
It is wholly expected that children obey their parents, and corporal punishment can be used if
they do not. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, surveys showed that
among people aged 15–24, the mean score for satisfaction with relationships with parents on a
scale of 0 to 10 was 8.2. It is apparent that both Australian and Amish communities value family
and the connections of other people, and it is part of both cultures to be welcoming and social.
Simplicity, in Australian society, is uncommon. Schools often have colourful decorations,
parents love to dress their children brightly and style is a common outlet to express personality
for Australian adolescence. Individualism became popular during the 19th century in France and
the UK and quickly spread to the western world through literature and art. Often, the “journey
to self-discovery" is a popular trope for media, and can be observed in the novel by S. E. Hinton
called “The Outsiders” which is a story about an American Teenager finding himself through the
actions he takes, and is read by Australian students in 9th grade. Distinctness helps create
character for an Australian adolescence, which is contrasted to the Amish whom disregard
outward difference completely. Amish society has a strict dress code for its people, which for
women is muted or dark coloured dresses and bonnets, and men cotton shirts with 3 or less
buttons (notably, 3 buttons or less on a man's shirt is to lessen the temptation to unbutton the
shirt down if it gets hot. This information can be found on episode 1 of the TV series “Living
with the Amish” 2011).
For an Amish adolescence, there is little room for questioning the self, as there are already set
expectations the moment they are born. The gender roles are strict and have been adhered to
for many years, whereas there is now a fluid outlook on gender in Australia and the West. A
rather judgemental view on Amish gender roles is because they believe that women are to
oversee domestic chores, that they are treated as lesser than or unfairly by Amish men. This is
not the case. It is expected that an Amish women will clean, cook and take care of the children,
yes, but this does not run parallel with the expectation that she can't do much else. Rather, it is
that Amish men and women accept their “gender roles” as personal responsibilities and is not
such an oppressive and unfair system as some might say.
The Amish and Australian cultures are extremely different at first glance, but they are not
without their similarities. Exploration of factors like gender and identity in different cultures
strengthens understanding of ourselves, and comparing these two cultures helps not only for
better comprehension of the world, but understanding why they are enduring and
everchanging.

“Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should

therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it.
Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.” Quote by John Hume.