Sailor Moon is a great positive role model to children, both girls and boys, everywhere. The senshi are female superheroes who fight with might to make what's right, inspire their fans to build a strong, ongoing fandom and they made a huge impact in their lives. Screenrant.com has an article about Sailor Moon: why she's the best role model ever.

http://screenrant.com/why-sailor-moon-is-the-best-role-model-ever/?utm_source=SR-FB-B&utm_medium=Facebook-Distribution&utm_campaign=SR-FB-B&view=lista

Sorry nope...any character that attempts suicide for selfish personal reasons that would doom the entire world in the process can never be considered a role model IMHO.   Sure she grows beyond that over time but I just can't ignore that unless you ignore the manga as a whole and just focus on the original anime.

It wasn't selfish, half the time she was either sacrificing herself for her friends, Mamoru, or the world. Also, she was just a child for most of the series. To just reduce her to her moments of weakness does a huge injustice to her character.

Manga/Crystal Sailor Moon in the Dark Kingdom arc she committed suicide as Serenity because she couldn't be with her boyfriend.  Then as Sailor Moon again attempted the same thing for the same reason.  Except this time that meant that she would also be essentially dropping the now fully restored Silver Crystal in Metallia's lap which she could use to destroy the world.  (Metalia was the only other person around her at the time who could claim it and so that is exactly what happened).  It was impulsive and selfish.  She didn't at all consider the consequences. She didn't consider for a moment that her friends might still need her.  That the world still needed her to do something about a certain evil entity.  That she had family and friends who would be devastated at losing her.  Heck her own friends were actually forced to sacrifice their own lives because of her rash decision here.  For a fictional character who only has essentially 3 years of their life to scrutinize...  Again I'm not arguing that she's not overall a great person, she has done a lot of good things since then, and she certainly has a lot of other good qualities but to me it still doesn't just go away when you are talking such a short span of time.  Maybe I'm assigning too much importance to the tag role model, but to me it literally means you are telling some one (ie a 14-17 year-old girl the same age as the character) that she should model their life after how this person acts, and so someone ever taking the easy way (ie suicide) and/or making that kind of major life/death decision on the spur of the moment, uh-uh don't be like that so I can't feel comfortable using the words role model.


I mean to make a real life comparison off the top of my head:

Bill Clinton it's been a decade since his "indiscretions" in the White House.  Since that time there's been no reason to think he's been unfaithful again. He's repeatedly been a diplomat for the UN.  He campaigned for the release of American foreign prisoners.  He personally visited Haiti to take part in the relief effort dozens of times.  He's been a huge fundraiser for multiple causes including various flood and earthquake victims around the world. 

Would you ever consider calling someone like him a role model though?  Or do major bad decisions in the past indeed still matter in your perception of a person even if they've done a lot of good in the present?

Again, she was a CHILD. Not only a child, a very emotional child that had recently been forced to remember her tragic past. Who was forced to grow up too fast. A child who basically had to be taught to hope, because she had no reason to, as every last good part of her existence was ripped away from her. She was a kid who was absolutely hopeless, going up an enemy who was insanely powerful that she didn't know she could beat. Boiling her down to her mistakes is unjust. Also, if you actually READ the article, it was about her valuing friendship and having healthy relationships and beating negative stereotypes. 

Also, comparing the fourteen year old Usagi Tsukino to old ex-President Bill Clinton is what we call a false equivalency.

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In addition, this thread has turned into more of a debate than a discussion. You may choose to start a new thread in the Theories, Debates and Headcanons section specifically to debate whether Sailor Moon was a good role model or not, but for now I suggest to please agree to disagree. I believe the intention of Solipsi Rai's original post was to discuss the article that he linked to about Sailor Moon's good qualities and not to debate whether or not she really possessed those good qualities, so please refrain from doing so. Thank you for understanding!

Cool, thank you Sailor Gallifrey!

In relation to the article, I think it's cute. Sailor Moon really did champion friendships and breaking gender norms (in a healthy way). 

However, the hidden sixteenth reason is that Usagi embodies the "treat yo self" mantra.

I do think Sailor Moon is a great rolemodel but I disagree with a few of the reasons.

A) Don't trash the Disney Princesses. Even if a few of them were saved by men, they impacted their world and changed their own lives a lot.  Plus I disagree with Mamoru being useless. Usagi can be a great rolemodel and still have a boyfriend is helpful in battles.

B) That fat themed episode....I really don't like it....

All in all, even if she has made rash decisions, I still think she's an inspiration for young girls.

I agree with you, Sailor Lily. Mamoru helped out in his own way. And Disney princesses proved that you could still be a powerful woman, if you were saved by men or not.

Probably the biggest thing Sailor Moon did for me as a role model was teach me to be loving of everyone, value friendship, and keep strong in the face of darkness. There was a quote I had a signature for a long time when I was a kid on the 4kids forum (the one about keeping the star shining in your heart to keep away the darkness). I loved how she was a hero who's greatest strength was her ability to love and care for anyone <3

Okay yeah I wasn't too big on the putting down of the Disney Princesses, especially since pretty much all of them except Snow White and Aurora actually tried to do something, so yeah. 
And I know that the debate is over but I's like to say Usagi tried to kill herself early on, and got way better. But yeah, she's a pretty good role model. And I agree with Eidolune, her embracing the "treat yo self" mantra is also a good reason.