Skip to main content
CircleBridge book

Denial

Notice differences that may be outside your usual experience.

Explore the concept

Within the IDC, Denial involves limited recognition of deeper cultural difference. Familiar surroundings can make local habits appear universal. The chapter uses everyday experience to show how people first discover that others have different meanings and practices. Readers can use this idea to examine the edges of their experience, rather than label another person. Curiosity about language, family expectations, communication, and institutional routines creates opportunities to broaden awareness. A single encounter cannot establish someone’s assessed orientation.

A practice to try

Identify a routine you call “normal.” Ask someone with a different experience what they notice about it and what alternatives they have known.

Explore it in the book

Companion guidance by Scott Simpson and Sharla Steever. Consult the book alongside these resources; activities and summaries do not replace the complete book.