John Eggert saw a wrong and in his quest to right it, he delved into academic research surrounding the gentlemen’s club industry. Eggert’s efforts, which have resulted in Researcher Stripped, began with Stormy Daniels’s arrest in Columbus, Ohio — which is covered in one of Researcher Stripped’s first videos.
Around the same time, an entertainer friend of Eggert’s was arrested for “simulating sexual intercourse.”
“Those instances seemed like an abuse of power — in Stormy’s case, proven so,” says Eggert. “Being naturally curious, I began to read about the laws/regulations about clubs and sexually oriented businesses in general attempting to find factual justifications behind them.
“I joined up with my partner and Researcher Stripped was born several years ago and after attending last year’s Expo in Miami, we were able to finalize our format and what content we would be making,” Eggert continues.
ED Magazine spoke with Eggert, courtesy of Bob Chiappardi and StripJointsMusic.com about the finer points of Research Stripped, his biggest challenges researching, and his in-and-out-of-the-club music tastes. And don’t miss Eggert’s personalized Spotify playlist courtesy of Bob Chiappardi and StripJointsMusic.com!
ED: For readers that may be unfamiliar, what is Researcher Stripped and how can it aid in the overall success of an adult nightclub?
EGGERT: Researcher Stripped is a website and social media platform that has three primary focuses. The first, obviously, is going over peered-reviewed articles that have been done on the industry of beautiful people taking off their clothes for money. The primary emphasis is on exotic dancing — but we also cover topics that have some overlap such as adult films actors, escorting, and interesting/funny sex related topics, such as that some women are allergic to semen.
We also critically investigate human trafficking by going over government and non-profit reports, news headlines, and proposed legislation. There is a big assumption that sex trafficking must be occurring in the clubs but the numbers really don’t back that up. It is one of the rarest places for it to occur and when it does occur, it is usually done by someone in the woman’s life forcing her to work without any knowledge of the club’s. But the buzzword of “human trafficking” is used by authorities and other actors to impose restrictions on the industry, conduct operations targeting clubs, and to rally public opinion against sex work in general.
Finally, we have an advice-style type of content that features topics like dancing on your period, what to bring to a club — either as a dancer or patron — and how to weed out customers to find those willing/wanting to spend money on a dancer. These are our most entertaining episodes and usually feature Bella, my partner, whose been a dancer for years. It creates an interesting juxtaposition when she talks about stripper stereotypes while I go over what the researchers have found regarding those stereotypes.
ED: What’s your favorite part of being involved in the exotic dance/adult club industry?
EGGERT: It is the individuals and how we are all somewhat deviant from the norms, and being such conversations can occur that would be considered taboo nearly anywhere else. It’s the Disneyland for adults and seeing how it plays out each night is half the fun of going.
ED: What are the biggest challenges you typically face?
EGGERT: One is that most of the research is conducted with small sample size, less than a handful have more than a hundred participants, and that it is descriptive in nature rather that quantitative. Basically, what that means is that most of the research can’t be generalizable to the industry as whole and that the academics bias might influence the results. Then there is the broadening definition of human/sex trafficking by the media and politicians which creates nice headlines but doesn’t address the real issues involved.
We have an advice-style type of content that features topics like dancing on your period, what to bring to a club — either as a dancer or patron — and how to weed out customers to find those willing/wanting to spend money on a dancer. These are our most entertaining episodes and usually feature Bella, my partner, whose been a dancer for years. It creates an interesting juxtaposition when she talks about stripper stereotypes while I go over what the researchers have found regarding those stereotypes. — Eggert
ED: What are your favorite songs/artists to hear in a club, and what do you listen to during your free time when you’re not in the club?
EGGERT: My favorite artist is currently The Struts, most of their songs just scream of having a sexy woman dancing all over you. Away from clubs, I tend to listen to psychedelic songs from the ’60s and ’70s; for something completely different, Japanese Pop, since it’s nearly impossible to listen to and be in a bad mood. Currently, my favorite Japanese Pop group is Baby Metal.
ED: If you could see any concert with any artist (living or deceased), who would it be and why?
EGGERT: It would have to be Pink Floyd’s 1980 The Wall Tour for the sheer performance of it. The movie is one thing and seeing the laser light shows as a teenager is another but to actually see it live would be mind-blowing.
