The reason I ask is because I have started a thread to see if girls mind being called chicks and I thought the history on the term would be beneficial.
Thanks.
An old girlfriend once told me, “Women are called ‘chicks’ because of the worms they pick up.”
{sigh}
“Chick” comes from “chicken.” See, in the barnyard, one studly rooster “services” a multitude of chickens. One man who has sex with a variety of young airline stewardesses would be a reflection of this relationship in the human sphere. This is why many women dislike the term, as it semantically reduces them to faceless sex-objects.
Thanks Ukulele,
That helps alot even though I don’t use it that way. But along that same line of logic better not refer to women as doe’s either.
I always assumed it was from the Spanish “chica” or “chicita,” but I’m just speculating.
I have a feeling the American slang term “chick” derives from the British slang term “bird”.
Another plausible etymology:
`Chick’ has been used as a term of endearment for children since the middle ages (ala. Partridge). It certainly isn’t the only word to become a general term for women through infantalization (e.g., babe, girl, doll, kitten).
For the purposes of discussing the use of the term, I think the etymological evidence is stacked against it. You’ll probably want to stick to “dame”.
In the back of my mind, I always thought it was related to the word “chic” (meaning “elegant” or “fashionable”) although I have to confess I’ve not given it much thought.
I thought broads didn’t like to be called chicks.
::slap slap:: 
I bitched at Aaron Burr’s Bullet over this a couple months ago. He started a thread in IMHO (I think) asking where he could “meet chicks”. The word itself isn’t always obnoxious, but used in that kind of question, it can’t be anything but obnoxious.
To add to what Johnny Angel provided–
chick was used to refer to males also in the 1800’s in the US(see Lighter). It seems to have taken on a strictly female usage in this century.