Personally, I've never been offended by anybody's avatar here. That said, I can't believe that anybody here regards the removal of one or two images from the site, for the reasons stated as such a big deal.
If someone doesn't like people wearing shoes in their house (because they like to keep it nice for everybody else), any sensible person would take them off as they go in. It's simply good manners. You don't hear anybody shouting out about "footwear censorship", do you?
As I see it, the site is open to us all, but is the property of those who create and maintain it. If they ask you to observe a few basic manners, where's the harm?
