Avoid terms with a history of pejorative use, unless you are deliberately trying to insult.
That's my advice, take it or leave it.
Look, that's your preference. Frankly it makes you sound smug and thus uncool. That's my observation, but don't take it, leave it.
How far back should this history go? And, if you were to direct your eyeballs to the posts above, you'll notice than in the present some are ok with being called chicks. Fuck! Some will bristle at being called ladies. Some pride themselves for being bitches. YMMV, but the spectrum's wide open, and there are so many factors. By taking so much care in not offending them, you're making it sound like you view women as some sort of defenseless little dears, who needs my care to live and thrive, who'll be crushed by my misuse of language (see, it's the interwebs, I can exaggerate and make assumptions without knowing jack about you). I don't want that! I don't want a doll, I want a human being. Are you in fact sexist?
I get it. You respect women, you cherish them, you treasure them. Cool. Same here, but my temple's built by a whole other architect, my cult's not rigid (that could never be misinterpreted on Lit

)