“Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina,” as simply said in the movie “Kindergarten Cop,” but that’s not the only difference that men and women have.

For many years, there have been debates, arguments and even many legal issues dealing with the battle of the sexes. Is all of this really that necessary?

There are obvious emotional, physical and mental differences between men and women, and I believe that if people could just learn to accept those differences, it would save a lot of time and energy for most people in this society.

I’m not saying women and men shouldn’t be treated equal because I’m all for getting a job over a man if I’m more qualified. However, I am simply stating that all individuals need to learn to accept the obvious differences that will never change and quit complaining about them. If the little things were less of an issue, then I think the big issues, such as gender stereotypes in the workplace, wouldn’t be as big of a problem.

A prime example of this is shown by a group of men on this campus that are known as members of the “College of Knowledge.” For the most part, these men are not disrespectful to women, but they do have a couple of reasonable requests of female guests that visit their home as clearly stated in a set of posted rules. The number one rule is “Those women choosing to enter the C of K correctional/educational facility shall NEVER leave the toilet seat in the horizontal (down) position.”

The toilet seat battle is a prime example of a long-running argument between men and women that could easily be dealt with. If all men live in a house, be respectful and leave the seat up, and if all women live in a house, guests should leave the seat down. How hard is it?

There are also many emotional differences that must be accepted. Let’s be honest here. For the most part, women are more emotional than men. In order to stop controversies over this topic, women must learn to admit that they have more emotional tendencies than men, and men must understand that women deal with a lot more hormonal changes — and that’s just the way we females can be. I’m not using that as an excuse for any woman’s extreme mood swings, but I am merely stating it as a fact.

There are obvious physical differences as well. I’m not referring to our anatomy again, but rather physical strength. It is a proven fact that the average man is stronger than the average female. However, men must learn to lose the macho attitude because when it comes to getting hurt and being sick, let’s be honest, a lot of them are wimps.

Women have to deal with the pain of their “cycle” every month as well as child birth. Because of this, they learn to adapt to the pain. They are less likely to whine over a little cut or a simple cold.

We must all be more accepting and honest about our physical strengths and weaknesses to better the battle of the sexes.

Women and men clearly think differently. Compare Glamour magazine to Playboy someday, and you’ll see what I mean. Just because they think differently does not make one group more intelligent or superior over the other.

A lot of gender stereotypes come from individuals who believe that they are better than the opposite sex for one reason or another. A book entitled “Colloquy,” points out some questions about stereotypes that have come from gender superiority attitudes.

“Why are men who are successful called competent while successful women are called lucky?”

When speaking about people who are talkative, “Why are men called articulate, and women are called gabby or chatterboxes?”

“Why are women who do not like to fist fight called proper or cautious while men who won’t fight are called fags or wimps?”

Women and men can be equally intelligent as well as equally stupid. Their actions and ways of thinking to achieve their goals may be different, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The mental differences of males and females will only benefit individuals by adding a variety of thoughts and ideas to discussions.

Both sexes need to learn to accept and respect the simple gender differences, whether they are emotions, strength, intelligence or sensitivity. This will ultimately help to ease the battle of the sexes and will eventually make the bigger gender problems a little less significant.

If nothing else, obey the toilet seat rule!

Giddy up!

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Amy Hillman is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Grand Junction.