Hear them roar.

Female social organizations, often unnoticed in an environment dominated by the eight all-male final clubs, have come into their own this year. Radcliffe College may be gone, but this has been the year of the woman in Harvard social life.

"All of the groups have been growing so much," says Suzanne M. Pomey '02, president of Kappa Alpha Theta, one of Harvard's two sororities. "These groups aren't just for ditzy girls who only care about boys."

With this changing image, the social organizations are striving to build a more diverse social scene for undergraduates.

"I can't believe we've gone so far in one year," says Alexandra B. "Sandra" Seru '01 co-president of the Seneca, Harvard's newest social option, which has created a presence through three all-campus social events as well as a strong push for women's issues.

Beyond these efforts, the group has focused attention on campus space for women and buying a house is a top priority.

None of the all-female groups has its own meeting space yet. By long-standing policy, the College does not recognize student groups that are open to only one sex, so none of the groups have on-campus space.

The Bee, a female final club, meets at restaurants; the sororities borrow space from Sigma Chi, a Harvard fraternity.

Founded last March by 19 women, The Seneca joined the ranks of the Bee and sororities Theta and Delta Gamma (DG), all of which have struggled to make a name for themselves over the past 10 years.

The Bee brought some of the difficulty upon itself.

"1991 was our official founding, but for many years the members wanted to keep it secret," Bee President Fiona A. Torres '01 says. "Now it's the opposite."

Sparked by a desire to see more all-female organizations formed, the Bee has now developed a higher profile.

This year, with a more public image and 57 members, Torres says the Bee is about as big as it can be while still preserving the idea of internal club bonding.

As punch classes have grown larger and more eager, the club has been turning away three or four times as many women as it has been accepting due to size constraints.

"Because of our budget we are limited, so we encourage other women to start up clubs," Torres says. "There's always been more interest in the Bee than it can handle. But this year we had a really tough time with the voting."