‘If your wife asks you to change diapers, change your wife’: the Arabic hit show that parodies the patriarchy

The female-created YouTube sketch series Smatouha Minni - You Heard It From Me - uses satire to confront misogynistic attitudes

In Beirut's Gemmayzeh neighbourhood a rented flat has been transformed into a film set: bright studio lights in a cosy living room. At its centre is Maria Elayan - though she is barely recognisable. Filming for the third season of Smatouha Minni (You Heard It From Me), a feminist series in Arabic, the actor is in a padded muscle suit, wearing a slicked-back black wig and beard.

If your wife asks you to change the diapers, you should change her," the Palestinian-Jordanian barks, mimicking an aggrieved self-help podcaster. An hour later, she is slouched in a hoodie, shisha pipe in one hand and a gaming console in the other, shouting: Mama, I'm hungry. Can you make me a sandwich?"