[sugarpimpdorsey]

> They also have an internal culture that's been fairly regularly criticized as being pretty uncomfortable for women and minorities.

If they don't like the culture, then they should work elsewhere.

I hear Google is hiring.

Nothing worse than joining a company you contributed zero to building from the ground up, then unilaterally deciding the culture needs to change according to your whims, right now.

You might feel uncomfortable working in a black barber shop. Or a cat cafe with pet allergies. You've contributed nothing to their business, they shouldn't have to change for you.

[worldfoodgood]

What nonsense. A decision about workplace should be a combination of factors -- workplace culture, products you can work on, compensation, skill fit, alignment with your interests, etc.

You should feel empowered to have a voice in the products of your labor. And you should feel empowered to have a voice in the culture that produces those products.

[sugarpimpdorsey]

They're a game company. They're not feeding the poor.

Your employment is "at will".

You are not entitled to any item in your list of demands.

You are, however, free to leave at any time for something more suited to your tastes.

[KittenInABox]

I think employees are actually entitled to some of those things, like not being made uncomfortable purely because they are a minority or a female. I would find the opposite position to be an exceptionally strange take: that it is entitled to not want to work at a place that puts you in uncomfortable positions for your sex or your race.

I don't have an opinion on Valve or allegations Valve is doing that. I just find it very strange to say it's entitled for a black to want to be treated as equally as a white.

[sugarpimpdorsey]

Being uncomfortable has no equivalence to racism, which you are trying to assert.

Assume a white guy voluntarily takes a job working in a wig shop that only sells black women's hair care products. He's going to be uncomfortable at some point. Does he have a right to not be uncomfortable? Should the company culture change, should they stop selling wigs and ditch their customers until he becomes comfortable?

No. The easiest solution is he should work elsewhere. He took the job knowing exactly what was involved. So no, you are not entitled to not be culturally uncomfortable.

[KittenInABox]

What kind of "uncomfortable for women and minorities" if not racism or sexism?

Also wait does this mean Valve is white males-oriented culture and that minorities/women should expect to be made uncomfortable by lieu of being hired there? I think that's an even weirder take!

[throw10920]

> What kind of "uncomfortable for women and minorities" if not racism or sexism?

Women generally have different interests than men, and different cultures generally have different interests and expectations than others. This is extremely well documented, as is the fact that people have a harder time being comfortable and fitting in around others who are unlike them or don't share their interests.

> wait does this mean Valve is white males-oriented culture

If Valve mostly hires white males, then either you're expecting the employees to not socialize at all (leading to no culture), which is sociopathic, or yes, that's exactly what you would expect.

You're objecting to reality and truth because it offends you, for some reason? There's literally nothing objectionable with any of the above. Being uncomfortable implies zero moral wrongdoing. You should do some reflection and/or research.

[throw10920]

It's kinda wild how part of the modern zeitgeist is entitlement to be comfortable, and how irrationally people will defend that entitlement, including to the point of being literally racist and sexist.

[worldfoodgood]

> You are not entitled to any item in your list of demands.

Can you point to the word entitled in my posts? Or are you putting words in my mouth?

Can you point to any demands? Or are you arguing against something I didn't say?

[thereisnospork]

You seem to be misunderstanding how language works? Can you please explain why you think the literal word entitled had to be said by you here?

You listed a bunch of things which should be, an opinion, he says your not entitled to those things, a probable fact relevant to the likelihood of attaining your professed desires, and he then offers a solution if you are unhappy with not having the things you professed 'should' be afforded.

[worldfoodgood]

I don't think you understand how discourse works?

I made no demands and I made no assertions about entitlements. That reply to me was a strawman.

I made two statements: 1) I suggested people have multiple criteria for selecting a workplace, not just culture. 2) I suggested people should have the ability to voice their input over their work. (Note, that's a weaker claim than "people should have input over their work". Just that they should feel like they are able to voice their input.)

Neither of those two things are demands nor entitlements, and the latter I would assume would be pretty non-controversial unless you believe that bosses should have absolute and complete control over every facet of a worker's job. (I guess I work in tech, where it's pretty widely accepted that people have autonomy to make some decisions on their own about how and what work is achieved.)