Yeah, I had the same thing happen this morning. My gender switched on me this morning and people's PM pictures have been wonky. I haven't seen much of anything off since this log in, though. It must have been taken care of a few hours ago, or I just haven't hit it again.
Edit: I searched a bit, and it's just something that's going around.
From
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3232886 :
Glitchy Avatar Images Feb 18
Members' avatar images are currently glitching sporadically. Their normal avatars are replaced with other members' avatars, malformed versions of their current avatar, or Gaia Houses. Resaving your avatar may fix this problem, but there is no known solution at this time. Please be patient while this item is being attended.
Seeing another user's avatar instead of your own while posting or surfing the site does
not mean you have been hacked.
Please do not file Hacking Reports if you are experiencing this glitch.