The Kiss Quotient

Clothing means something very different to Michael than it does to Stella. To Michael, clothes are a means of self-expression, a creative outlet. He designs clothes to make his mark on the world, intending to create something that helps people look and feel good. Even when he is doing alterations rather than creating outfits, he values how clothes make a person feel. When Stella arrives at the drycleaners for the first time to discover Michael at work, she overhears his conversation with a woman for whom he is hemming clothes. It is clear from their conversation that he has accounted for more variables than just the woman’s measurements. His attention to detail is extended to Stella’s dress for the foundation diner, which he designs with her sensory concerns and style in mind. Michael’s passion for clothes and how they can serve their wearer is key to his eventual business.

Stella’s idea of clothes transforms over the course of the novel. In the beginning, she sees them strictly for their utility. Michael teases her when he sees her closet only contains work clothes, and the two of them shop for more casual items for her to wear. Stella views clothes through the lens of what feels good and serves its necessary purpose. However, her view shifts when she tries to solve a statistical uncertainty as to why men do not buy their own underwear. After an intimate moment with Michael, she hypothesizes that people buy underwear for those they love. At this moment, clothing takes on a symbolic meaning. Michael’s designs are a labor of love, as is the idea of purchasing something necessary to show that you care. She gifts Michael with a package of boxers. When, during the final confrontation of the book, Michael says he loves her, she checks his underwear to determine if he is wearing what she got him. She sees the purchase and subsequent wearing as a sign of love, elevating clothes above their previous status.

Money is both a central conflict and symbol at work within The Kiss Quotient.

As a plot device, money is Michael’s primary motivation. Before the events of the book, he begins escorting to get rid of his father’s debt. He uses his job to support his mother and family and continues working as an escort when his mother is diagnosed with cancer. Michael’s need for money hinders his pursuit of his passions. When money is removed as an obstacle, he is free to dream for the first time in years, empowering him to go into business with Quan and ultimately achieve his goals. Michael’s relationship with money mirrors that which a lot of people have in the real world. Money can create as many obstacles as it can erase, making it a necessary but difficult aspect of everyday life.

Money also represents power. People with money often have access to power and can spread their influence in realms that those without often cannot. In this way, the book flips the traditional roles often present in modern texts in that Stella, a woman, has more money and is thus in many ways more powerful than her male counterpart. Michael carries with him other experiences of being less powerful than those with money. For example, he refers several times to his “crazy” ex-client who became obsessed with him, buying him a car and lavishing him with gifts. That client ultimately tries to buy Michael’s services again, though he rejects her because of Stella. Michael is forced to behave in specific ways because of the money and influence around him, taking away much of his agency. Michael eventually becomes empowered once free of his debt, creating the necessary foundation to further his business enterprise and advance himself socially.

Stella views the world through numbers and statistics. Statistics is her passion, and she finds comfort in data. Stella clearly has a more analytical worldview, compared to Michael’s more artistic inclinations, and this joins with her autism to give her a more practical outlook. She enjoys her work so much that she works on the weekends, finding comfort the patterns her life provides. For her, numbers are security, but they also provide her with a lens through which to view people and social interactions. Janie, later in the book, summarizes her feelings about numbers, which closely aligns with Stella’s: “‘Math is the single most elegant thing in the universe, and economics is what drives the human world. If you want to understand people in a sophisticated manner, I believe economics is the way’” (274-75). Stella uses mathematics to process her thoughts, even developing an equation that helps her decide how to tell Michael that she loves him. Statistics helps Stella channel her thoughts and is a powerful processing tool that helps her move forward with her relationship.