Hey folks, I’m a freelance voice-over artist and QA reviewer working on training content, usually things like workplace harassment and diversity courses. Recently, I was asked to QA a course on workplace harassment—and noticed the client had removed all references to gender, replacing it with sex. Anywhere the word “gender” appeared, it was just… gone or replaced.
It seems like a subtle thing on the surface, but it’s not. It completely shifts the tone and scope of the training. It feels like a quiet rollback of DEI principles, and honestly, it made my stomach turn. The kicker? I need this job. Turning this down could burn a bridge I can’t afford to lose.
I have a good relationship with the lead on the project (who’s just relaying instructions—they don’t have control over the content decisions), and I want to say something. At the same time, I’m scared that even a polite pushback could cost me.
Has anyone else been in this kind of situation? How do you draw the line when your ethics and survival are at odds? Would really appreciate your thoughts.
you need the job. take it, and do it well like the client wants. invest time in developing options so that you won’t have to take this job again.
your personal survival comes first
if this is about your survival, then survive.
surviving doesn’t mean you care any less; you’re taking care of yourself and hopefully in the future you’ll be in a better position to speak up for those rights like you obviously want to in the future.
Bullshit. That’s how the selfish cope with their cowardice. If they’re not speaking up now, they’re not going to later.
I presume you’re volunteering to pay OP’s bills? And let’s not forget about the great activism prospects homeless people have.
OP, survive. Only once you survive, you can change things for the better.
your comment is incorrect because:
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those who do not survive cannot speak up at all
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it’s far more difficult to live for a cause than to die for it.
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Take the job if you need it. You’re not going to change their minds.
Clear your conscience by doing some pro bono work for a gender issues non-profit or small company that is LGBTQ+ friendly/owned—especially if they are a competitor to this company.
Gradually, ween yourself off this company.
*wean
Unless Gene and Dean Ween are somehow involved?
If I were in your shoes, I would probably mention the change in tone/word choice to the lead on the project since you have a good relationship with them. Just mentioning that you noticed the change and aren’t sure about it doesn’t need to be combative, and I would be truly shocked if it cost you the job. Depending on your state it might even be illegal to fire you for something like that.
I personally would not take a stand or refuse to do the voiceover or anything like that. I would make it clear that I would do the voiceover using the script as it is written. I would think of it as providing feedback rather than making demands, which seems like it would be within the purview of a QA reviewer.
This way you can at the very least get more information about the situation - find out whether this was an intentional change. If so, it may be time to start making moves so you can eventually drop this company.
Yeah, I think this is the most reasonable approach. Everyone else is suggesting that falling on your sword is the first line of defense, and it really shouldn’t be.
If you are the attorney general, and the president asks you to fire someone prosecuting him, sure, resign.
If you are just some person trying to get by, shooting yourself in the foot isn’t going to help anyone. If you refuse to do a job, and they just hire someone else to do it, you’ve only really lost a lot at the cost of a small moral victory immediately rendered nil.
Not to get too utilitarian, but the ultimate goal should be to have the best outcome for everyone, not to just make the first decision that seems to be right.
There’s a saying about fascism “Do not obey in advance”, and the idea is that during the rise of fascism, the fascists don’t actually have to make people do what they want. Lots of people comply with their goals well before being forced to. We are seeing many companies eliminating DEI objectives because it’s what the fascists want, even though they don’t have to.
This could be one of those situations where a frank conversation with the project lead to see if that’s what’s happening because there is a chance to convince them not to obey in advance. It could also be that the training is going for federal agencies that have been “legally” required to eliminate “gender” from any training materials.
I think it would be foolish to turn down the job without at least establishing that.
It could also be that the training is going for federal agencies that have been “legally” required to eliminate “gender” from any training materials.
I didn’t think of that. All of those are good points.
Choose your battles smartly, that’s the only way we’ll win.
Ignore the self-righteous advice and take are of yourself first. We can’t fight back against oppression by sacrificing ourselves when it accomplishes nothing. That just means one less person is available to fight back when it does matter. The stakes do matter. They’re not asking you to kill people.
In the middle- to long-term you should think about how to deal with the larger problem. To avoid situations like this you may need to develop new contacts, find similar wok in other sectors, or even find another kind of work. Those are things that will take time and planning, so work on them while you do what’s needed to keep yourself going.
Always do what you can and look for ways you can do more, but make sure any sacrifices you decide to make are worth the likely results.
Take the job. Do some activism in your spare time.
First off, sorry you’re in an impossible situation. Some POS at the company is adhering to old views to treat groups like shit for no reason other then their ego. That’s shit.
I would take this as a sign it’s time to start finding other customers. Like you said, you need this job, any comment isn’t going to change the content, and they are doing it because being terrible to marginalized groups is the current shitty “answer” to income inequality.
I’d do the job, and then act upon your morals to search for either other places to work or other jobs. That way you can eventually tell them to pound sand.
The replies here are disappointing but not surprising. If you willfully cross your moral boundaries, those aren’t your moral boundaries.
It’s not fair you should have to make this choice and I don’t believe you deserve the negative consequences of standing by your morals in this situation, but reality doesn’t care about any of that. You still have to make the choice and you still have to deal with the outcome.
No way in hell would I break my own code of ethics for an employer. I’ve said no before and I will again. Sometimes that costs me financially. I feel for you.
I mean, whether or not OP does the job literally doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. They are easily replaceable, and will be replaced if they refuse the work or cause too much trouble. The project will continue as planned, with the smallest increase in cost allocated to finding OP’s replacement. The only difference in outcome is that OP doesn’t get paid and loses professional reputation which will make it harder to get jobs in the future.
Instead of martyring themselves for literally no benefit and just ending up poor and miserable, OP should focus on taking care of themselves and taking actions that can actually make a difference.
I didn’t see this in the comments. You said you had a good relationship with the project lead - can you just ask about it casually from the perspective of product improvement? Not make a big deal of it but just a “hey I noticed you said sex instead of gender. That’s a thing that might raise an eyebrow (or something to that effect)”.
If you’re doing QA, there’s nothing wrong with asking a question about a choice someone made. Full disclosure: I don’t work in this industry, I don’t know anything about content vs. voiceover.
I know it doesn’t solve your “should I do this” dilemma, just a thought on an alternative approach 😊
In practice, no one will be hurt by this change, except for the pain caused by a defeat in the culture war. If I were you, I would consider risking my career over real harm done to individuals, but not over abstract harm done to an idea, even an idea I supported.
Money over other peoples well being, your choice.
Ever ask yourself what you would have done if you’d lived in Germany in the late 1930s?
Wonder no more. You’re doing it now.
What work have you turned down? Let’s hear your brave tales of resistance so the rest of us know what to do.
There it is- the classic centrist liberal two-step: first assume I’m American so you can deflect responsibility with ‘what are you doing?’, then scold me for commenting while not being American when you realize I’m not the one failing to stop fascism in your country. Pick a lane, or better yet- grow a spine.
So, nothing? You’ve done nothing.
