The concept of culture spurs many individuals to study, understand, and obtain knowledge of certain customs, values, standards, and rituals that create another perspective to empathetically grasp, and each relatable truth, discovered by its researcher, can establish foundational, inalienable traits to argument the researcher’s identity. Each human is elected to be a researcher of culture with or without the knowledge of the research, but ironically, identity is not a firm state of being; it is continually shaped and molded after each new experience. The Amish society is not the exception from the foundational consistencies of culture and identity, and furthermore, this society, akin to other cultural entities, has created an interesting form of identity exploration from a rite of passage known as Rumspringa. Consequently, Rumspringa relies on thin layers of accountability with many standards, which inevitably, induces negative consequences to an adolescent’s search for personal identity affirmations.
Identity is fragilely within a constant spectrum of change and development, yet the Amish culture has chosen to be oblivious to harmful manipulations between parental authorities and the adolescents within their budding youth. Adolescence is a period of overwhelming expansion, physically and mentally, and instruction, with clear foundations of moderation, can ultimately equip a troubled teenager with the proper tools to unlock facets of untapped potential. The Amish culture limits this search for identity, and adversely, ill-equips their adolescents to combat definite crises within the confusing realms of identity exploration. Additionally, the church, founded under the Amish culture, invokes powerful penalties for individuals that a...
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...viduals yearns to comprehend the source of these interesting silhouettes, so without further delay, he seizes the opportunity to discern that these silhouettes originated from a cave entrance from a stunning world of colorful clarification and enchantment with impressive indigo skies, crisp vegetation, and wondrous creatures scouring the outskirts of this mysterious new realm. He comes to the conclusion that he must inform his peers of this new realm of knowledge, mystery, and wonderment, but upon his arrival and explanation of this discovery. Unfortunately, upon his return, his colleagues politely ask him to return to his seat. The power of a new perspective can create enlightenment and joy, but consequently, those satisfied for the commonality of their cultural existence may omit an opportunity to fully embrace and comprehend a crucial change within their identity.
...n, A. M. ( 1995, Spring) The Amish Struggle with Modernity. Virginia Quarterly Review. Vol. 71, Issue 2
Self-identity allows you to be your own individual person; it allows you to be able to fit in with certain groups. However being a teen and trying to develop a self-identity of you own is very difficult.In Evan Hunter story "On the Sidewalk Bleeding" the theme of self-identity and its cause and effects have been explored.This will be shown through an analysis of why Andy joined the gang, the reasoning of why the couple did not help him, and also Andys thoughts about the identity he has chosen towards the end of the story.
Individualism and conformity seem to be the exact opposites of each other, but what if being individual meant conforming to the way of everyone else, and what if conformity was the key to being apart of a community? In the essay by Andrea Fishman “Becoming Literate: A Lesson from the Amish” the author looks at the conformity in the Amish culture in regards to education. However, in the essay by Stuart Ewen “Chosen People” Ewen discusses how mainstream America prides itself on individualism. Both essays explore the complexity of being an individual in societies that thrive on conformity.
Devil’s Playground is a documentary following the lives of several different Amish teens in LaGrange County, Indiana. The film shows the teens during a period in their lives known as rumspringa. At the age of sixteen, Amish teenagers can leave the Amish world to experience the modern world. The teens stay in this lifestyle until they decide they are ready to be baptized and officially join the Amish church as adults.
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
Racial and ethnic identity are crucial elements in the framework for individual and communal identity in our society. Deep values through religion and family create a sense of racial and ethnic identity and are manifested in sensible ways for many distinct minority populations in the United States. Individuals with these beliefs have different cultural values that are undesirable in mainstream American society. For others, on the other hand, especially white Americans, ethnic and racial identity are virtually invisible because societal normality is usually constructed around their ethnic, racial and cultural values. We commonly refer to them as the “standard American culture.” In Native Speaker, the protagonist, Henry Park, is unable to define himself in American society. This essay will discuss Park’s cultural self and his path to discovering himself in relationship to his family, friends, and the United States, as well as drawing in personal experiences that relate to Park’s.
Establishing an identity has been called one of the most important milestones of adolescent development (Ruffin, 2009). Additionally, a central part of identity development includes ethnic identity (ACT for Youth, 2002). While some teens search for cultural identity within a smaller community, others are trying to find their place in the majority culture. (Bucher and Hinton, 2010)The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian chronicles Junior’s journey to discovery of self. As with many developing teens, he finds himself spanning multiple identities and trying to figure out where he belongs. “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other” (p.118). On the reservation, he was shunned for leaving to go to a white school. At Reardon, the only other Indian was the school mascot, leaving Junior to question his decision to attend school he felt he didn’t deserve. Teens grappling with bicultural identities can relate to Junior’s questions of belonging. Not only is Junior dealing with the struggle between white vs. Indian identities, but with smaller peer group identities as well. In Wellpinit, Junior is th...
We often face the reality of questioning our purpose in the world and wondering: when our time in this world comes to an end, what impression will we have left on the world? To answer this question, we look to our identity — both personal and community-based — to define who we are and provide for us a sense of self. Identity for a Jew, like that of other marginalized groups, is made up of a collection of character traits and significant milestones that both define and validate the existence and survival of an age-old people. As an American Jew, whose freedom to identify is made possible by the persistence of my ancestors to keep our traditions and culture alive, my identity is immensely important to me. But how is it that our heritage has
Collective Conscience, Collective Representations, and Social Currents: The events that the young Amish will be apart of during Rumspringa appear to be similar to what an English person, like you or I, is showed to during high school and college. The problem with Rumspringa is that the Amish are very unexposed to our sort of lifestyle their entire lives, that when they finally get to experience it for themselves, they tend to have over exposure.
From the beginning of this religion, to the present day family roles, the Amish religion has been dissected thoroughly to prove that they are not as boring as perceived by American society. To date, the largest group of Amish people live in Lancaster County, home to about 30, 000 Amish people. Prior to researching this religion, I had many bias thoughts and assumptions about the Amish people. Through weeks of research, I have enlightened myself to a new religion that I did not have much appreciation for, but most importantly, group of people whom I share many of my values and beliefs with.
Culture and identity are two very strange ideas. They are received at a very young age, yet they are very hard to give to someone else. They will affect you for the rest or your life, yet for the most part you are born into them. However, they soon become very important to us and we cannot, no matter what we do, live without them. They are a part of us, and a vital aspect of society. However, it took me a very long time to recognize that I had an identity and a little while after that before I knew what it was.
What is Identity? Is it what you think of yourself? Is it how others see you? Or maybe it is the way you present yourself. Stories like “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth , “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and Who Really has it?” by Hilary N. Weaver give us a few examples of identity based on each one of the authors viewpoints. Both “Ain’t I a Woman?” and “The Story of an Hour”, focus on how women were viewed and placed in society before and during the suffrage movement. “The Lottery” opens our eyes to the identity issue of blindly following tradition. The author of the story “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and Who Really has it?” tells us that identity is based on; race, gender, social status, and the knowledge of one’s heritage.
Throughout my life, I've heard many different stories about my family. Because of these stories, I know about my background, and they have helped form my identity. Randall Bass, professor of English at Georgetown University, agrees that stories help shape people's identities. Bass states that, "Individuals derive their sense of identity from their culture, and cultures are systems of belief that determine how people live their lives" (Bass 1). Cultural stories about family history, religion, nationality, and heritage help influence people's behavior and beliefs. Identities of different people come from their cultures. Story telling begins at home. Stories help connect people to their systems of beliefs. They sculpt people's lives by giving them a model of how to live. People receive their earliest knowledge from different stories.(Bass)
Minority individuals who are raised in the United States live in community where norms are trying to be preserve; therefore, traditions are strictly enforce by peers, family, and friends because they believe it is the only way to live. In other words, minority youths are forced to learn their community’s norms in America because their own kind are afraid that the norms will be lost. For instance, Junior is a representative of a young minority youth force to practice the norms in his Native American reservation. In his reservation, the s...
In the modern society, the concept of identity is gaining much attention from both scientists and the wide public. The idea of identity is connected with the issues of identification and determining one's role in the society. However, the problem with the identity concerns the idea that it is perceived through numerous external factors that tend to determine the social status of a person and his or her belonging to a certain group. With regard to this, very often the identity of every particular person tends to be misinterpreted and perceived incorrectly. The incorrect interpretation of a person's identity usually comes as a result of cultural differences. The aspects that define the person’s identity usually include the labels that tend to be imposed on people due to their world-view, the language they are speaking, the racial belonging, or even the clothes they are wearing.