An interview with my Amish friend, Katie.

This interview was conducted with my friend Katie from Ohio. She is Amish and from a family of 11 children. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Amish, they are very private and I am privileged that Katie allowed me to interview her for this project. With that said, I only asked her four questions that were not too personal. She is 24 years old and was recently married prior to this interview. Katie wishes that her last name not be used during the assignment for the privacy of her family.

For the record, Katie speaks in a Dutch-English accent and some words that she used are not common to our dialect. I had to edit a few or her responses in order for them to make sense. Also, the Amish refer to all non-Amish as English.

“What are your beliefs when it comes to tattoos, piercings, or other methods of body modification?”

“I, along with other believers of the Amish faith, do not believe in experimenting with those types of things. We are happy with how we are; how God made us. We do not adorn ourselves with jewelry or ruin our skin with tattoos. To us, it is sinful and inappropriate. We do not approve of it and are strictly prohibited from editing ourselves from how we truly are.”

“Does it offend you if you see an Englishman or Englishwoman with tattoos or piercings?”

“We try not to stare, but sometimes it is hard not to. Just as visitors stare at us because we are different, we stare at the English because they are different from us! But I typically do not get offended unless they are very disrespectful by exposing tattoos or piercing that are in private locations. We are very conservative, so when visitors interact with us, we wish for them to be very conservative as well.”

“When you were younger, did you ever want to wear jewelry or make-up?”

“No. I was around my friends and family who did not wear those things and I did not want to be different from them. I suppose it is just the opposite for the English. The most “jewelry” I wore was my bonnet. When I did go to the mall or the shopping centers for shoes, I would see the shiny necklaces and the make-up in the stores, but I never admired them. I was comfortable without them.”

“If you do not wear jewelry, how do other men know that you are no longer single?”

“For women, we have no sign to others that we are married. It is just known. Or, if we are carrying a baby, that usually gives it away. But men, they stop shaving their beards once they are in a committed relationship (engagement for us). They will still shave this area (she points to the mustache and goatee face location), but the rest will grow.”