As someone new as well, I imagine that there are a lot of users still climbing the learning curve - it might take them a while to even figure out how to see the gendered avatar you're referring to. I know I'm still figuring out what all the overviews, activity levels, etc. mean and how to view them by clicking what. Hopefully by the time it becomes easy the new users will realise that there is nothing particularly noteworthy about a user being a woman!