I noticed a post in another topic from a few months ago where a member said they were brought up to believe 'she' was a rude word and when they referred to adult relatives as 'she' instead of their name, even though they weren't saying 'she' in a rude way, their mum would tell them off with that old-fashioned phrase "who's she, the cat's mother" (A phrase I can't stand), yet they were never told off for calling a man 'he' instead of using his name.
Referring to a man as 'he' instead of his name doesn't especially seem to be seen as offensive, hence no-one saying "who's he, that cat's whatever", so what was considered so rude about referring to a woman as 'she' instead of her name that led to that harsh, snooty and daft phrase about some imaginary cat and one of its parents?
The saying seemed to imply more than the woman being referred to has a name, it seemed to also mean "don't call someone 'she' because it's very rude". I have noticed men being called 'he' including in situations like "HE said that" and they weren't offended at being called 'he'.