Pissicles: The unique gift Joan Jett would give to problematic men
While punk was only in its infancy at the time, when Joan Jett first emerged as the frontwoman with The Runaways, it was clear that she was staking a claim to become known as the ‘Godmother of Punk’.
Nobody else had quite managed to forge an image for themselves that was so unapologetically rebellious in the way that punk rock should be in the same way that Jett did during the mid to late 1970s, and this is ultimately part of what helped elevate her to the level of notoriety that she achieved within a short span of time.
The Runaways were arguably the first band of their kind; raucous in sound and proving themselves to be just as strong as their male counterparts within the field, and this was something that set them apart from the rest of the punk world. It was by no means impossible for a woman to succeed in punk at this time, but it was certainly not an easy task to overcome all of the male-fronted acts.
It wasn’t just the music that had to fit with the punk aesthetic, though; you had to have the attitude to match it, and this is something that Jett had in abundance. Not only was she capable of making visceral rock music, but she possessed this gritty character who didn’t seem to be afraid of confronting all of the obstacles she faced head-on.
With such a male-dominated world surrounding her, Jett and her bandmates had to fight against a tide of misogyny in the rock world, and would stop at nothing to ensure they were the ones coming out on top against the boneheaded individuals who didn’t see a world in which women could be triumphant as punk musicians.
Having to battle against constant sexual advances from men in their scene, Jett knew she had to take action against this daily torrent of bigotry and chauvinism, and her solution to deal with this was simple, yet grotesque.
In order to get one over on men who made unwanted advances on her and her bandmates, Jett allegedly used to make piss popsicles, or ‘pissicles’, which were made up of her own frozen urine. Jett would later comment on this during an interview with author Brendan Mullen, saying: “That was a thing that me and my friends did as a defense against assholes; I don’t know if we ever actually utilised them, but we always had them at the ready.”
According to biographer Dave Thompson, the story of when the ‘pissicles’ were actually used is as revolting as you might have imagined, and they were brought out on one occasion when a man was proving to be irritable in her apartment. After handing him a pissicle to try and silence him, he allegedly made a face and complained that it “tastes like shit”, to which Jett responded: “You’re getting close.”
As disgusting as it sounds, it’s probably one of the simplest and most ingenious ways that you can muzzle a man who is being an annoyance, and perfect for Jett to get one over on the guys who tried to walk all over her.
