Reflections on the Amish Rumspringa

A wonderful imagination of freedom, enjoyment and laxity of Moving around or the Rumspringa
as translated by the girl giving descriptions conquers my thoughts as it involves taking a flight,
ocean and the nightclub visits in another land.
The video highlights includes teenagers of Amish leaving their community with lots of freedom
expectations and how their simple living styles differ with that of upper classes in British. (JHU
Press, 2014)
The girl giving descriptions is also an Amish girl not yet baptized and was among those touring.
On staring at the crowded street, she reflects on their living styles as Amish and quickly
compares it with what she is seeing. To her, I think she is on a different world all together and
wonders how strict their Amish culture is.
In gender role, the Amish culture tends to give freedom to male than female child. This is
outlined in the video by comparing the number of boys to girls on this Rumspringa. Girls are so
tied into this culture whether baptized or not as compared to boys. (Richard A 2014)
Concerning this, I think male chauvinism is still dominant in our local communities across the
world. Women are still subjected to ruthless treatment and tied to norms barring them from
enjoying their rights compared to men.
The Muslims prayers in this video is viewed by Amish as adherents of full participant of the
world which is against their doctrine. They strap the dynamite to their anatomies and blow up
trains.

Surname 2
The Amish song outlines their old primitive lifestyles which include absence of light, motorcar,
luxury and freedom. The horse symbolizes pride, richness, and freedom according the Amish
community. (Stevick, 2014)
The ritual of growing up and viewing the outside world IS A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. This
ensures interaction and borrowing cultural practices useful for moving the whole world at the
same pace.
Exploring the world helps in borrowing of ideas and interactions which involves learning of new
things and impacts people’s lives. These impacts are more of positive compared to negative and
therefore tends to modernize peoples’ lives.

Reference

1. Stevick, Richard A. Growing Up Amish: The Rumspringa Years. JHU Press, 2014.