I've never really thought of the word pussy as a bad thing, or a pet peeve (along with the word moist, which makes some people squeamish). I've always liked the word pussy, as a cat it's cute, as a vagina, why not?
When I was in high school/college I would jokingly tell my guy friends to 'grow some ovaries', because as women, our genitalia is not out danging in the wind making a delicate target of itself. And honestly, I can't help but think that men's genitalia make much better insults than women, which could be taken as a complement instead of an insult if taken literally, because they gift the world with orgasms and the creation of humans. For example, to me calling someone a pussy, sounds less negative than calling someone a sack of scrotum.