A British-based academic was at the centre of an international race row after citing "research" that claimed black women are uglier than other races。
Dr Kanazawa, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, has published findings based on a survey of white, Asian, black and native American men and women who were asked to rate each other's attractiveness based on photographs. Black women scored lowest, Asian highest。
The controversial Japanese academic, an evolutionary psychologist, concluded this is because African women have higher levels of testosterone than other races and therefore have more masculine features。
Not only does Kanazawa fail to provide any evidence to support his conclusion, he fails to say how many people took part in the research and does not even mention the race of the women – for example whether they are Afro-Caribbean。
Nor does he explore the fact that the research on which he bases his conclusion was conducted in America where European ideals of beauty dominate。
His article, published on the US-based website Psychology Today, caused international outrage. It is not the first time that Dr Kanazawa, 48, a lecturer within the department of management at the LSE, has been accused of peddling racist theories。
In 2006 he published a paper suggesting the poor health of some sub-Saharan Africans is the result of low IQ, not poverty。
Tokyo-born Dr Kanazawa studied in Bulgaria and gained a PhD in Sociology at the University of Arizona. He has been at the LSE since 2003 and is now on sabbatical. He portrays himself as the scourge of political correctness and his own website carries the slogan "prepare to be offended"。