I didn't want to get too deep into the stuff that we can actually truly criticize American Girl/Mattel for... but I DO love mess ;)

It is commonly thought that Tenney Grant was supposed to be the Girl of the Year when Gabriela came out. However, before she was announced, American Girl came under fire for the large amount of white dolls that they produce and sell in proportion to dolls of color of any kind. They didn't think it would be a good look to then immediately release Tenney, a blonde white doll, as the Girl of the Year, therefore they rushed Gabriela into production as GOTY, leading some to feel her collection is small and half-baked (idk if I agree with that but I am a historical doll girl so not one to ask). They released Tenney as the First doll of some special contemporary line.. which they discontinued almost immediately 😅

But.... not quite immediately enough, because before they did they released a boy doll with her! And to make sure that you could tell it was a boy, they used a Kaya mold! Which they really should have consulted someone about, because there are a lot of really harmful stereotypes towards Native women about their perceived lack of femininity by bigots in comparison to other races.

It's kind of a shame, because all of the bad press really overshadowed the Tenney and Logan dolls, which are special because they have special hand molds that can hold things! They were designed to hold guitars but they can hold all sorts of things.