Staking a Claim on Male Turf : * Working on computers is empowering, so girls have an extra incentive. It can also be fun.

One of the best gifts you can give a girl is entree to the digital future. Like being good at math, computer savvy is empowering.

Don’t have a home PC? Start off with video games.

Nintendo and Sega sell simple mini-computers. Girls who play video games today will face tomorrow’s computers at school or work without fear.

Although it’s a boy’s world out there in video game land (just walk through the gaming section of an electronics shop--are you in a store or a locker room?), I was able to find four games designed with girls in mind.

* Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” (Hudson Soft for Super NES). As you move Belle through the story of her romance with the famous Beast, you make decisions, read, memorize and observe. Some hand-eye, finer-twitching action at the end, but this is more an interactive adventure than a typical video game.

* “Wizard of Oz” (Seta USA for Super NES). Dorothy has to open four gates to get to the Emerald City. She rescues other characters, flies via her ruby slippers, learns moves to help her defeat the Wicked Witch. Well designed for problem-solving and hand-eye practice.

Girls get to do heroine’s work in a setting they know and love.

* “Barbie Super Model” (Hi Tech Expressions for Super NES and Gameboy). About as politically incorrect as you can get (Barbie practices for a super model show. Barbie chooses a wardrobe, etc.). But with four choices, who can afford to be picky? And besides, a certain amount of narcissism may be essential to a healthy ego.

* “Kendo Rage” (Seta USA for Super NES) Fighting software with girls doing the fighting. Mostly the heroine fights inanimate objects, not people. No hand-to-hand combat except at the end, when the evil force (it’s a she) is confronted.

Some will find this game politically questionable. But hey, it’s one of the few games where girls are in the driver’s seat.

For the sake of variety, girls will need more than these four games. While you wait until the games world catches on to the fact that there are girls out there, try:

* Sega’s “Ecco the Dolphin,” a New Age underwater adventure, or Irem’s gentle “Dino City” for Super NES.

* The video game versions of famous educational computer games like “SimEarth” (FCI for Super NES), the “Carmen Sandiego” series (Capcom for Super NES), “Tetris,” “Wordtris,” “Welltris” and “Facetris” (Spectrum Holobyte for Super Nes), etc.

These games are challenging, so check appropriate ages before buying.

* Gender-less games in which cartoon characters or animals are the heroes. “Tom & Jerry,” “Felix the Cat,” “Beethoven 2” (based on the movie), “We’re Back” (based on the movie “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story”), “Kirby’s Adventure” and “Kirby’s Dreamland” (Kirby is a balloon-like creature), all the “Mario” games (technically, Mario is male but an action hero he ain’t), etc.

To find these, just browse the racks at any video game store.

* “Mario Paint” (Nintendo of America for Super NES) is a particularly good choice.

It’s a deftly designed art game that can be used to make electronic art, compose music, animate artwork and record animations onto videotape.

* “Aladdin” (Capcom for Super NES). Despite the fact that Aladdin, not Jasmine, is the hero of this video, girls enjoy it. It’s a fast game and a souvenir of the movie with the beautiful, feisty princess.

No girl who values her hand-eye coordination should be without it!