<P> In 2005, some pro-life and Catholic groups criticized the company for donating funds to the organization Girls, Inc., which supports underprivileged girls and promotes abortion rights and acceptance of homosexuality . </P> <P> The American Girl Place store in New York City was the center of a labor dispute with Actors' Equity Association (AEA). On August 3, 2006, 14 of the 18 adult actors at the store's now defunct theater went on strike . AEA reached a two - year contract effective April 1, 2008 . All American Girl Place theatres were subsequently closed in September of that year . </P> <P> In May 2014, the company was met with criticism on social media over its decision to discontinue four characters from the historical collection, two of them, namely African - American Cécile Rey and Chinese - American Ivy Ling, representing ethnic minorities . They however defended their move as a business decision, as they decided to "move away from the character - friend strategy within the line". A petition has since been filed through the activist group 18MillionRising.org for the company to provide a replacement for Ivy . The company has also drawn criticism for its recent focus on the contemporary line, specifically the Girl of the Year characters and their backstory, to which was viewed as lacking depth and more important issues in comparison to the Historical / BeForever characters' backstories . My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series creator Lauren Faust also expressed her concern and criticism of the line in a Twitter post, stating it "was once radically positive for girls before it was homogenized for money". </P> <P> American Girl attracted considerable criticism in February 2017 when they announced that they will be changing the dolls' bodies to incorporate permanently stitched panties on contemporary dolls and certain BeForever character dolls, namely Maryellen, Melody and Julie . Public reaction to the permanent underwear--the first major change since the transition to flesh - colored bodies in 1991 following the release of the Felicity doll--was overwhelmingly negative, as fans of the franchise complained that it stifles customization and devalued a well - established and successful brand "from heirloom quality to be passed down for generations to low - quality retail ." </P>

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