"Inside every fat person is a thin person and lots of chocolate." - Terry Pratchett

"There's a thin person inside me struggling to be free!"
"What, just the one, dear?" --Absolutely Fabulous

The first time I remember being annoyed at Sailor Moon was after viewing the episode Slim City. At least, I think that's the title. It involved Serena gaining a half a pound, attempting to be anorexic, being scolded by Luna for eating too much after she'd starved herself, and going insane in a gym in an attempt to lose weight. At the end, Sammy played a trick on her, making the scale read 300 pounds.
Excuse me, I said to myself, but what is Serena's damage?! Has she never looked in a mirror?! The girl is not fat. Far from it, in fact, she's so super-skinny that I doubt she could exist in real lifeŠ and the same goes for everyone else on the show. There isn't a single obese person among them.
Well, maybe in the background of a crowd scene, you see one person. But that's it. One. Which is funny, 'cause a significant portion of the world population are overweight. (Admittedly, a significant portion are starving to death, but that's a rant for another time.) So why aren't they represented on Sailor Moon?
I've read, or at least, glanced at a significant number of Sailor Moon based fanfictions. Not enough that I could claim to have seen all of them, or know everything that's going on in the SMFF world, but I have yet to see any overweight Sailor Scouts. Why not?
When it comes to fanfics, I think it's probably because most people want to fit in with the real show. Apparently, in the universe Sailor Moon takes place in, there are no obese people, so there are no obese fanfiction characters, either. I suppose that makes sense, in a twisted way. So why are there no overweight characters on the show itself? Why does the main character get bent out of shape over gaining a measly half pound? Some very good questions that took me a while to come up with answers to, or at least, some theories.
Sailor Moon, like all TV shows, is only going to remain on the air if it gets watched. Most people want to watching interesting things happen to interesting people, and they want it to be aesthetically pleasing. Interesting things ­ check. Interesting people ­ check.
Pleasing to the eye? Well, what does the eye want to see? Most people prefer to watch beautiful people over ugly people. It's true, they've actually done research and seen the babies will watch a face they find to be good looking for much longer than a less beautiful face. (This was from Discover Magazine, in an issue several months ago. I forget the date, sorry.)
So what's beautiful? Apparently, skinny girls with long legs, large bosoms, and big eyes. People this is what people like to see, and so it's what TV shows project, in order to keep things nice-looking, and thus stay on the air. So where does this beautiful image come from?
WellŠ
According to the article in Discover, it's a scientific thing. As infants, a subconscious "aver" of every face is taken, and faces that are closest to that average are considered to be prettier. It's a great article, and I highly suggest it.
On a less scientific scale, a generally accepted theory about body image and why some things are considered beautiful while others aren't is because, over and over from their infant years, people are shown images and told, this is what's beautiful. This is ugly.
And, by extension, this is what you want to look like. You want to be beautiful. If you are beautiful, you will be happy.
Think I'm exaggerating these almost subliminal messages? Then instead of flipping channels during a commercial break, watch commercials. They generally show people using a product and having fun with it, and those people are, ninety-nine percent of the time, unobtainable ideals of beautiful.
(Or at least, unobtainable if you want to eat a normal meal and not purge it afterwards.)
Ever played with a Barbie Doll? Same image there. Happy, rich, and beautiful. They all seem to go together, don't they?
Sick, isn't it?
Most people don't reach those standards of beauty, and yet are wonderful anyway. Nice. Funny. At least, interesting and unique.
So the author was rather annoyed after watching Slim City and decided that there should be a representation of a Sailor Scout who was, at the same time, happy, funny, sought after by half the guys on the show (heh heh heh) and overweight.
I'm Sailor Fat, and damn proud of it.