What makes an "Artist", and do you think you have the right to call yourself one?

Ok so i've been in the creative fields for a long time now, from acting to film production to obviously doing what I mainly do now...Photography. Yet it was only a few months ago that I began to call myself an "Artist". And the reason was simple...

I had spent quite a while shooting more glamour based images, such as this

 To me, it's a very sexy, classy, beautiful shot of a stunning girl, Ella Cole. It's simple, nothing flashy, a little sultry (which is my style) and I think in the whole, is defo one to be shown off.

One evening, sitting at my laptop as usual, editing images and uploading them to various websites, a friend (who shall remain nameless) commented under one of my images.
The comment was a very long attack on the subjects of my work. Not a personal attack on them, but on me for choosing them.
Her issue was that i only used "Beautiful" models. And I never shot "Normal" people. The comment went on to say that I should stop doing what I was doing because it was fueling a sexist society of male chauvinists and basically i was adding to the issues women already face and I was degrading women.