When I worked in retail, I had this wanker of a middle manager who would ask how I was getting on, and when I said fine, he’d always say “It’s not rocket science, is it?”
He was mid twenties and only a few years older than me. He used to call female employees “babe”.
One time I watched him get a withering telling off from a customer. The customer wasn’t in the right, but it felt like a little bit of retribution for all us “babes”.
You’re Wrong About podcast has an episode about this with Blair Braverman guesting, that I think posits a decent theory. Blair also appears on episodes about the Andes plane crash and the diphtheria serum run, both of which are well worth a listen.