irenicus has every right to have a picture of herself in her bikini top if she wants. I personally don't like overtly sexual images as avatars, because there's plenty of that everywhere else. However, this isn't an overtly sexual image. Joe is just being a bully (yes you are, shame on you) and judging her for celebrating her prettiness and (horror) sexuality. How does having a picture of herself looking pretty make her a tramp or a slut or anything else? Get a life, Joe. If you want to voice your concerns about the appropriateness of an image, do it without name-calling or being rude.
Lu, you've got Borsook on the back foot there. He doesn't want to say he thinks it's a bad idea, but he appears uncomfortable. Let him off the hook.
I have concerns that irenicus' new avatar isn't a good idea, because she is young, and may attract unwanted attention/sleazy stuff she may not have anticipated - but not because Joe or other ignorant and rude put-down artists are going to call her names. It's a sad fact that sickos do prey on young people on the Net, and I wouldn't like irenicus to be unsafe in cyberspace. (Being a nosy over-bearing sort of person, I PM'ed her this morning about it.)