What is up with women referring to themselves as “girlies” unironically?

Over the last few months I started noticing women referring to themselves and others as “girlies” and at first I thought it was just ironic use of the term on circle jerk subs. But I’m now seeing it everywhere! Reddit, TikTok, and even heard it IRL a few times. As a grown woman, it feels condescending and diminutive in a way that confuses the heck out of me when I see or hear it said by adult women. How did this start? And when did it become a thing everyone says?

https://later.com/social-media-glossary/girlie/

Edit: Wow! Didn’t realize my thoughts on this would be so controversial. I’m not a boomer but clearly out of the loop enough on this one to piss some people off. A few folks have offered explanations but there doesn’t seem to be agreement on where or how usage of this term started. It’s cool to hear the ways the term is being used to subvert gender norms, though.

Edit 2: This post is now marked as answered, thanks to u/kamekaze1024 shedding light on how the term came into pop culture and u/TerribleAttitude explaining current usage of the term. Some of y’all who got upset over my discomfort with the word need to go touch grass lol