The Lives of Amish Women by Karen M.Johnson-Weiner

 The Lives of Amish Women

by Karen M.Johnson-Weiner is a new book published by Johns Hopkins University Press and explores the condition of Amish women, what they do, which role they play in their communities.

I don't know you, but a village of Amish to my point of view is a relaxing and dreaming place. 

Most of these communities, in fact, the most conservatives ones, as you will see other ones are open to modern items and facilies, are still living as in the pre-industrial era, so without electricity, washing machine, iron, and all the modern facilities that we discover everyday. They don't use tractors for working in the fields, they use carriots for going everywhere.

Yes: it is true. 

Amish haven't never accepted modernity in large part but they continue to be great farmers, with an existence much more lazy and less frenetic than the one of the outside world.

The story of Amish people is absolutely stunning. The birth of this "movement" when there was the scission of Martin Luther, from the catholic church so in 1520 circa, and then an elaboration of what they wanted to become. Women were persecuted because of their strong role in the society and because they were not passive but active people in grade to make the difference.

If emigration in the USA under many ways, changed the cards on the table, Amish tried to find, in particular the most conservative ones, places where to stay and where to continue to be who they were in the Old World. So, great and open lands where they could cultivate, growing a functional and beautiful farm. 

Women in the social tissue of American Amish is necessary and taken in great consideration. 

In general a woman in a family is completely responsible of the house. If the man is under many ways a little patriarch, the woman is devoted to the rest of all the activities at home.

A big role is played by couples and children. A new married couple means to the Amish community new members soon. Children are the new people of the community and their education becomes, because of this reason, incredibly important. Treasure of the community, and in particular of their family, their parents will grow them with responsibility. Children must observe what their parent say to them. Creating obedient children means also not breaking rules or create disorder in the family.

In general Amish prefer to giving birth at home avoiding the hospitals, because home means from the beginning community and a social tissue known where the newly baby can be immediately accepted and cuddle; the hospital can be read as a cold place.

Of course it is not said: there are also communities that prefer the hospital at the home for that important moment.

The newborn baby is immediately active part of the Amish community. After several weeks he will be brought at church; he will sleep in the bed of his parents, and during the day he will stay in the kitchen, sleeping, while the rest of the family talks; what their parents and the community will tend to do is to create a new great member of the Amish community; toddlers are more mature than non-amish children and they are in grade thanks to their maturity of taking care of other people in need if their parents absents. 

Girls once in the puberty starts to wear adult clothes, and they help their parents during the summer-time, accepting work during other periods of the years also thanks to other families.

Menstruation will create a differentiation of works, and during the monthly period girls are treated with respect and most of the heaviest works will be limited at lightest one.

School: children attends Amish schools where in general there is an unmarried girl teaching lessons while fathers repairs the school when necessary; more opened Amish communities choose public schools, where Amish children attends also all that technological lessons and labs avoided by the Amish philosophy of life.

In general schools in an Amish reality is long till at the eighth grade.

Once this moment is over, the Amish teenagers will start to be introduced at the heaviest chores of the house, helping neighbors but also watching and learning from the oldest members of the community.

Of course young boys will help in the farm, while for the girl is a story of cooking,cleaning, childcare, sewing.

A teenager can take care of many little siblings with normality while her parents are away.

More or less at 18-20, young boys and girls decide to be baptized. It's an important moment in their existence and the affirmation of their being Amish.

It's a tragedy when, at the opposite, an Amish boy decides to leave the community: in general males are more numerous because more free than not girls. Maybe because the mantra is the one of honoring parents; maybe because the structure is pretty closed, no one would want to lose pieces; so this terrible moment is lived like a shame and a violation of the commandment.

In these cases there are several institution put under the lenses of the community: what was wrong? Where the community or the family committed errors? 

A structure like the Amish one bless marriages, although for certain people too particular and different from the Amish ideas will be more difficult if not impossible to settle down with someone of the same community. Sometimes people who will become couple are distant relatives. 

In Amishs courtship a friend is the mediator between the boy who would want to go out with the girl taken in consideration, and the same girl.

Amish girls must have clear ide about who they want to date, because probably that one will become their husband.

There is maximun secrecy in this phase; no one tell to other memembers of the family that it is dating another person; there are anyway amish communities admitting bed courtship. The couple must arrive home when the family is to bed and the boy must leave the home before that the rest of the girls' family is awaken.

Once the story is mature enough there are the wedding publications. All the community in that moment know that soon there will be a newly wed couple.

Times are changed and in general weddings are more big than in the past in these communities; it is indispensible so a variation of menus, differentiated and more modern in comparison to the one of the past; various cooks will prepare the luncheon, with the help of children.

As you will see an important moment for Amish women is church. A church service can lasts three-four hours and everyone including children must stay there. At the end there is a communal meals.

Butchering is a great activity celebrated during the winter-season; killing pigs and cow is an event of big proportion for the work that creates and at the same time for the good meat donated by the animals; in the good seasons women work for the creation of delicious fruit sauces and in fall for potato chips. 

Funerals are another aspect of Amish life. When a member of the community dies, in particular if elderly, a lot of people will participate; if it's a newborn baby or a toddler, not too many; just the family.

At the home of the deceased, people will love to see the dead one, talking of the old times, remembering the man or woman passed away; in some community the body is never left alone; during the funeral there are no singing; children participate to the funeral from the beginning to the end in the cemetery.

In the education of children there is the good habit for reading. If books are in a house they must be read by everyone and Amish parents and communities keep a special eyes at all the books introduced in a house, because that books will be read by all the family.

But...Which are the most beloved authors of Amish communities?

Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) but also Little House in the Prairie, when they also discovered this author.

There is also to say that Amish Literature so tales, novels, short stories, cookbooks inspired by Amish real life have a big success in the USA and sometimes they become real bestsellers.

One the the first and most successful writer is Wanda Brunstetter. I personally read and reviewed some of her books and they are simply enchanting; books, cookbooks also, created for warming the hearts of readers. I personally can tell you that these books relaxes me a lot and let me think at a simple world still plenty of values.

The book takes also in considerations magazines like Keepers at Home and Little Red Hen News. The first one is a magazine for all that women who wants to read pieces about motherhood, or ladies sometimes discomforted because they don't see God close to them; the second magazine is for hardworking ladies, and it is very conservative.

More to discover in a book that will let you breath the real atmosphere of an Amish Community and the daily life of Amish women and their realization; this book is the best evasion that you can ask for, from the real world.

Highly recommended!

I thank Johns Hopkins University Press for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori