You're conflating personal and professional. In your private life, you're free to be a prima donna and demand whatever your family and friends will put up with. At work, you're not, and unlike Ms Manners, I'm neither your friend nor a family member that has to humor you. Demanding that people play status games is going to get you a fiat no-hire from me, in part because you will find many of the tasks beneath you. And such a person would be unlikely to tolerate calling his or her managers Mr. / Ms. X. As should be obvious, if being called doctor is a deal breaker for you, there are lots of other employers. I think you're unlikely to find many in the valley that will tolerate such nonsense, but it's a free country -- anyone can keep looking until he or she finds a company that tolerates it.