In .NET how do I ignore end tags in an XML comparison?

[TAEL]

I am attempting to compare two .NET strings that contain xml\[code\]<FIRST_NAME type="CHAR" />\[/code\]and\[code\]<FIRST_NAME type="CHAR"></FIRST_NAME>\[/code\]If I compare them as they are (as strings) it results in false. I want the comparison to result in true, since in XML they are functionally the same thing. What do I need to do so that a comparison of these two items (and others like it, where the difference is an end tag missing, or being present) return true?Note, casting into an XML object/type of some sort from a string is fine, as long as the end result is a function/method that returns true.