Beloved archetype .
The phrase itself comes out of the smart, self-depracating mouth of Amy Archer, i.e. Jennifer Jason Leigh's character in The Hudsucker Proxy.
You know...for kids.
These girls dress and talk smart, and hold fun girl jobs like reporting and secretarial work. They know what's up.
Greatly more so than the dumb boys over whom they tend to swoon.
See also: His Girl Friday. Which, if memory serves, starred Rosalind Russell.
Except, icicle, in the archetype, they want to be strong, independent, witty, know what's up, but underneath it all, they're just girls who want to be loved, probably settle down with a nice protective man.

... because it's an archetype invented by men... in the 1950s.

The Hudsucker Proxy can get away with it, because it's largely pastiche.

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