I will tell on myself here but having an anime pfp evokes something childish for me and I do judge the user based on it. I expect to be judged similarly because I use the album art for a favorite album of mine as a pfp on the same platform and would consider it equally inappropriate if I were to share a heartfelt and serious message like this one.
That sounds like you associate anime with childhood cartoons? But considering how much of that industry output is 16+ or 18+ (usually violence and themes), I'd say that is more of a cultural confabulation.
I would absolutely not expect a business profile image, regardless of the message. Nor do I get why you think it is so essential.
Half the red team industry are furries. Would you criticise them for not using a mugshot? Because a lot of them don't, whilst posting CVEs that affect half the world.
Yes, I do believe not having a pfp at all would be better (for disclosing CVEs or sharing a statement about disbanding the nixpkgs team). By all means use any pfp for normal forum purposes.
I'm afraid at this point, that sounds more like a you problem. You're judging people for something inconsequential. Your reasons are your own but... Probably worth some introspection here.
I'm very well aware it's a me problem, anime just isn't for me and it's super popular. I'm honestly surprised that a single person seemed to agree with me.
DOS was built in a basement. Pretty sure suit and tie wasn't the dejour whilst they were doing it.
Linux was a hobby project. Pretty sure that slacks featured more than a blazer.