Very odd, Bingley - I certainly associate '-ette' with a feminine version of something traditionally male - drum-majorette, f'rinstance, or suffragette. Enough so that, without any context, I was wondering if the example you gave meant the "the brown-haired woman grabbed the fellow by the ears and rapidly oscillated his cranium."

But '-ette' is also used for inanimate objects to denote petiteness - as in "Vanette," used by a vehicle manufacturer for a small van marketed in the UK (Suzuki, I think?) and what the USn's call a Motor Home, we call a "Caravanette."