If you’ve ever attended a testosterone-drenched LAN session, you’ve probably heard it grumbled at least once. Every hour. ‘Where are South Africa’s girl gamers?’

It certainly seems like a justified question when you sneak a peek overseas and spot the likes of Hungarian-born legend, Kornelia, fragging men at Quake and Doom 3 tournaments across the United States. There’s even Ubisoft’s sponsored Frag Dolls, the Spice Girls of competitive gaming.

But forget LANs, gaming’s public face. Where are South Africa’s ordinary female gamers - the girls and women who de-stress with a session of Neverwinter Nights or Resident Evil?

The first thing to understand is that SA is not the United States. Over 41% of American gamers may be female, but such statistics are meaningless here.

In the past decade, the Internet has played a crucial role in mobilising the cause of women gamers. But in a country where your average home dial-up connection shudders along at 33kbs, such debates are pointless. While American women play online games and unify in girl-centric communities, SA’s gaming girls are isolated.

But they’re out there. And their numbers are growing.

General shifts in society and technology are making regular computer contact the norm for South African men. And women. With increased contact inevitably comes comfort. And comfort encourages gaming as a recreational activity.

Marketing gaming at women, in magazines like Cosmopolitan, would certainly help matters. If gaming for women received society’s stamp of approval, it’s likely rogue gaming girls would emerge publicly.

A more daunting barrier to female gaming remains the stereotype that is “The Games Women Play”. Popular opinion would have you believe that women only play The Sims and assorted cutsie, colourful puzzles. With their massive commercial success, and minigun shortage, “hardcore” gamers struggle to take the games, and their players, seriously.

There is no reason to say female gamers are any less diverse in their tastes than their male counterparts. Of course there are women who are Sims 2 and Bejewelled junkies. There are those into Final Fantasy and other RPGs. Still others enjoy their Adventure, RTS and Shooters. An all-girl Counter-Strike clan even roams Port Elizabeth.

Being a gamer is not about what you have and haven’t played. It’s about having a passion for something you enjoy. Whether that’s The Sims 2 or Half Life 2.

Accept this and you’ll find there are a lot more female gamers in South Africa than you thought.