That’s a good point. That image wouldn’t be at all out of place among the (often racy) WWII bomber nose art that lonely young airmen painted, but it doesn’t really jive well with a message that this is a serious, inclusive endeavor rather than something for straight men to do for their own entertainment.
Edit: the Virgin Airlines nose art that led to this was copied from an existing image on a 1943 bomber, which isn’t at all surprising. Virgin itself calls these images “pin up girls” in their blog, so there’s absolutely no denying that it’s meant as a sexualized image of a woman.
https://blog.virginatlantic.com/flying-high-34-years-10-facts-flying-lady-nose-art/
Also, those silly space outfits don’t exactly project a serious, inclusive image either when the color configuration on the female shirt seem designed to create the illusion of an extreme hourglass figure, like those novelty t-shirts that make it look like you’re in a bikini with a tiny waist.
