The Onion

Exactly! It’s been endlessly frustrating to see Clinton criticized for being inauthentic in the 2016 campaign, given the criticism she faced earlier in her career for not sufficiently playing the role of “spouse”.

During a debate before the Michigan and Illinois primaries, Bill was accused by a rival of delivering favorable contracts to his wife’s law firm during his tenure as governor of Arkansas, TIME reported. The comment rattled Hillary, resulting in her making a comment that provoked immediate backlash: “I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies and had teas,” she said, speaking of “the sort of thing that happens to women who have their own careers.”

Her comments outraged many American women into a fit of rage, as evidenced by theLetters section in the April 20, 1992, edition of TIME:

The response to her comment had plenty of ingredients and flavor but not much sweetness. For instance, there is the reaction of disaffected voter June Connerton of Princeton, N.J.: ‘’If I ever entertained the idea of voting for Bill Clinton, the smug bitchiness of his wife’s comment has nipped that notion in the bud.’’ Then add the annoyance of homemakers like Cindy Berg of La Crosse, Wis.: ‘’I resent the implication that those of us who stay at home just bake cookies. We hardly have the time!’’

She wound up having to participate in a cookie bake-off with Barbra Bush to smooth over her comment.