Rebecca Fisher’s take on a beauty tutorial is simple. She’s standing in front of a cabinet mirror while a woman (clearly trying to remain out of frame) holds a phone to film her. A tea towel embroidered with the message “Do small things with great love” takes up the bottom half of the frame. Fisher parts her hair
in the center, takes a comb, and twists her hair pulled back in a slick bun, not dissimilar from the style that Bella Hadid loves to wear on the red carpet. In other videos, Fisher’s hair is partially covered by a white bonnet. The caption on the video says, “How we do our hier (sic) #Amish.” The video has 6,282 likes.
What I knew about the Amish before watching Fisher’s video — mostly gleaned from listening to “Weird Al” Yankovic — was pretty much limited to their plain dress, and the fact that most don’t use technology. Many of the videos tagged “Amish” on TikTok show horse and buggies — a hallmark of the culture to lay people —
and are filmed by non-Amish passersby on their road trips through rural Pennsylvania. But then there are some Amish teens, bonnets and all, who are considered a hot commodity simply for existing on the platform. Social media offers them the same opportunity everyone has — to tell their stories on their own terms to people they don’t know. And yes, depending on their church and their age, it’s probably totally kosher for them to be on social media, if unusual...READ MORE
