TED Ed, the educational branch of the organization that puts on the thought-provoking TED Talks, recently posted a five-minute video on “The History of Marriage” that is wonderfully inclusive of same-sex couples and aimed at anyone from older elementary kids to adults. I thought I couldn’t be more excited about their videos — and then I saw another, on a topic I couldn’t have guessed, that is seamlessly inclusive of a same-sex romance. I may even love this second one more.
TED Ed produces a plethora of short, animated, always interesting educational videos on a wide range of subjects. My 10-year-old son and I have gotten into the habit of watching them on my iPad over breakfast (which is why we also know where to go in a zombie apocalypse). The one on marriage, by Alex Gendler, discusses the evolution and varieties of marriage across time and around the world, and could be a great resource for educators building an inclusive curriculum, same-sex couples wanting to ensure their kids that their parents’ marriage has precedent, parents of LGBT children, and any parents wanting to give their kids a broad understanding of human relationships.
For an organization to be inclusive of same-sex couples when talking about marriage is perhaps not so surprising these days. But for an organization to include same-sex couples when talking about non-family-related topics, just because we’re part of the world, too, shows a depth of understanding not often seen. That’s exactly what TED Ed did in its science video (also by Gendler), “Why do we cry? The three types of tears.”
The video stars an anthropomorphic eyeball, “a girl named Iris.” One day, the narrator tells us “she meets a girl named Onion.” It was love at first sight: “Iris is immediately smitten. Onion looks gorgeous in her bright purple jacket, and she smells terrific, so Iris invites Onion to her house for dinner.”
That’s when things get dicey. Onion removes her jacket, and Iris can’t refrain from bursting into tears. These are “reflex tears,” we learn — ones that occur when our eyes need to wash away harmful substances (as opposed to the “basal tears” that are constantly present to moisten our eyeballs).
Alas for our two heroines, “They know they can’t continue their relationship if Iris is going to hurt and cry every time Onion takes off her jacket.” They break up, causing Iris to weep the third kind of tears, “emotional tears.”
It’s a sad tale, but has a hopeful ending (with a not-so-subtle reference to the It Gets Better Project). The narrator soothes Iris by telling her, “Don’t worry, as long as you have all three kinds of tears working to keep you balanced and healthy, it will get better.”
I’ve embedded the videos below, but do be sure to check out pages for the marriage and tears ones on the TED Ed site, where you will also find discussion questions and resources.
Bravo to TED Ed and Gendler for showing us how to include same-sex couples in the curriculum even when discussing topics that aren’t “about” same-sex couples, but could be about any people. That’s true inclusion.