A Conversation with Angela Thomas
Author of Do You Think I’m Beautiful? The Question
Every Woman Asks
ba
Q: Your book, surprisingly, doesn’t focus on body image. If women aren’t asking, “Do you think I’m
beautiful?” in regard to their bodies, then what are they asking about?
A: I think the question is more about acceptance. The deeper ‘beautiful’ we long for is about
being seen and known deeply, but we often find ourselves looking for that
answer in every place but the right one.
I know because I have been there.
Other people and some things like career and education can give us a
part of the answer, but ultimately, the fullness of being called beautiful can
only come as a shout from God.
Q: If this question is common to all women,
when do they first begin to ask?
A: From my childhood, I began to realize that I could not have
anything in life that required me to be beautiful. I understood almost instinctively that I should keep my head
down, study hard, try to do the right thing and, maybe, life would turn out
okay in the end. When no one notices,
we learn to pretend that it doesn’t matter.
But it matters and it has mattered form our earliest memories.
Q: So many teenage girls struggle with
feeling unlovely, which sometimes leads to eating disorders, depression and
worse. How does it harm women to
measure their value by physical beauty?
A: We are wired for relationship and we can’t help it . . . we want others to validate
what they see in us or about us. But to
believe that complete acceptance will finally come from the words of a man or a
society is harmful. Apart from the
truth of God’s love, we’ll find ourselves spiritually impoverished. We
become like the prodigal son who has left his father to pursue pleasure . . .
eventually he finds himself empty, broke and almost dead. But just like the prodigal, we can come to
our senses and watch the Father run to us with His wild love, assuring us that
He has always called us beautiful.
Q: How do you see grown women, even
Christian women, trying to deal with this question?
A: Many of us pretend and many of us become functional addicts,
trying to drown out the voices in our heads that tell us we are unworthy and
unlovely. A woman might have one glass
of wine for dinner, but the rest of the bottle after everyone is gone. Reasonable shopping out with the girls, but
reckless spending later via catalogs.
Responsible Internet use with the children, but late nights in chat
rooms with inappropriate discussions.
We smile a lot, dance around it, hide the pain with some forms of
pleasure. But soon the pleasure is
gone. The thrill is gone. The desire is gone. And we are still left
with the question, unanswered.
--more--
Q: Where does the desire for beauty
originate? Is it merely a cultural
phenomenon in our Western world?
A: I truly believe that the longing to be known as beautiful is
part of our design as women. God put us
together this way on purpose. I have
been talking to women, discussing this idea.
I have been in meetings with some of the most brilliant women I’ve ever
known. Women who run companies, dress
like someone out of Vogue magazine,
have engaging relational skills, and just plain intimidate every other woman
they meet. Even these women are haunted
by the question (Am I beautiful?).
Q: There will be women who hear you and
think, “I don’t even ask—I know I’m
not beautiful.” What do you say to
these women?
A: Me too. Or at least
that used to be me. But what I most want to tell these women is that God calls
them beautiful; He is enthralled with their beauty. I am telling you that the God of Heaven and earth is wild about
you! He’s smitten, He’s consumed, He’s
so taken with you! Let Him make you
captivating. How much more of your life
do you want to pass?
Q: Angela, do you think you’re
beautiful?
A: I finally know
for sure what God says about me. He
calls me beautiful!
For publicity information or interviews with Angela Thomas,
contact
Pamela McClure, 615.595.8321, pamela@mmpublicrelations.com