The marriages are dependent on if they are between two members of the Amish church or a member and an outsider of the Amish church. The decision to marry a person outside of the Amish church is one that comes with a decision to be made by the person in the community, but before they are baptized by the church.
To get married in the Amish community, members must be baptized in the church. Outsiders, non-Amish, or 'English', as they call the rest of the world, are not permitted to marry within the Amish community.
The Amish also believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. Same-sex relationships are not allowed within the Amish community. Unmarried Amish men and women aren't supposed to have any physical contact with each other. This includes kissing, hugging, and even holding hands.
Kissing is only allowed if it is within the confines of marriage. Before marriage, courtship often includes light kissing. However, no physical contact is allowed prior to marriage and even kissing on the cheek is seen as excessive. Additionally, members of the Amish community are discouraged from kissing in public.
The Amish Community and Dating
Dating among the Amish typically begins around age 16 with most Amish couples marrying between the ages of 20 and 22. To find a prospective date, the young adults socialize at functions such as frolics, church, or home visits.
Feminine Hygiene
Female Amish wash their hair and wear it in a bun. As for makeup, Amish women aren't allowed to wear cosmetics or adornments considered worldly. This includes lipstick, mascara, eye shadow, and jewelry.
Leaving the community
Some Amish youth do indeed separate themselves from the community, even going to live among the "English," or non-Amish Americans, experiencing modern technology. Their behavior during this time does not necessarily prevent them from returning for adult baptism into the Amish church.
The Amish bedroom rules contain what is known as bundling. This is the practice of sleeping in the same bed with someone of the opposite sex while fully clothed. Bundling is not considered sexual in nature. Rather, it's seen as a way to get to know someone better before marriage.
Amish women, however, have to wear their head coverings at all times. An Amish bonnet or head covering is called kapp (or prayer cover). It is worn and topped with a black Amish bonnet used by women in Amish communities during certain occasions.
In short, Amish women don't shave because they aren't allowed to cut their hair. Similarly, married men don't shave their beards, but do shave their cheeks and trim to keep their beards tidy. Along with maintaining their lush hair, the Amish believe that everything they do should be of high quality.
Birth control and abortion are forbidden by religious doctrine, even when pregnancy is life threatening. The Amish church has no rule against immunization, but only 16-26% of Amish children have received immunizations against the common childhood diseases.
There's no prohibition on alcohol in most communities, but certain strict Old Order communities aren't in favor of it. You'll never see Amish men going outside of the community to bars and other such establishments. If they do drink, they do so at home or in the community, at a social gathering.
In addition, members of the Amish community are allowed to remarry after their spouse passes. Widows sometimes garner financial assistance from their families or the church and may even find work outside of the home, according to Amish America.
Do the Amish celebrate Christmas? Yes, they do, although their customs are much simpler than our “English” customs. They are oriented toward the family and the religious meaning of the holiday.
Many Amish women get pregnant between the ages of twenty to twenty-two. This is because Amish culture encourages dating early, from sixteen. Amish couples start having children immediately after marriage as they perceive children as gifts from God. An Amish team's average number of children ranges from seven to eight.
I think the level of integration with the modern world varies community to community (some Amish communities are more insular than others) but the most conservative of them will probably use the same methods women used for hundreds of years — wrapping themselves with strips of material, or wrapping their shift/ ...
A family leaves behind the trappings of the 21st century to lead a simple, self-sufficient and pious life in rural Tasmania.
Do Amish women wear panties? Well, Amish women must cover their entire bodies, and so women are expected to wear underwear. However, their undergarments are different from what we in the modern world consider panties. The Amish women wear full-length bloomers, usually made of white cotton or muslin fabric.
But they don't pick up their children to hug and kiss them. There are no rules against such demonstrations of love… it is just not done. Another interesting fact about affections, is that the Amish don't have a way of saying “I love you” in their language.
The Amish believe that going barefoot keeps them closer to the earth and nature, and therefore keeps them closer to God. There's no easier way to enhance the bond with God's natural creations. As such a pious people, this is of great importance to the Amish.
Members of this faith-based community typically practice home births, which are performed without modern medical interventions such as epidurals or pain relief medications.
Pennsylvania Dutch is the language used by the Amish population here in Lancaster County. It is considered to be their first and native language. The Amish learn to read, write and speak in English, allowing them to communicate with the 'outside world'.
During the period known as Rumspringa, beginning at about age 16, Amish youth are no longer under the total control of their parents on weekends and, because they are not baptized, they are not yet under the authority of the church. During this time, many Amish youth adhere to traditional Amish behavior.
We have all been curious about what do Amish think of outsiders. But, get ready to be surprised because it turns out that "English" is the special term for those not in their community.