I never heard that phrase and I watched all the old western TV shows and films when growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. Women were treated with respect in those old shows. It was made clear that life was hard and everybody worked together on the frontier, both men and women, because they had to in order to survive.
The 1951 movie Westward the Women is an interesting portrayal of the strength and determination some women had to make a new life in the West.