Steven Gerrard slammed for 'sexist' caption on family Instagram photo

Footballer Steven Gerrard has come under heavy criticism for 'ruining' an Instagram photo of his children with a 'sexist' caption.

In the snap, which was posted on Saturday, Steven's three eldest daughters are pictured with mum Alex huddling around newborn son Lio, whom the family welcomed in April.

The three girls, Lillie-Ella, Lexie and Lourdes, look identical in matching school uniforms and blonde pony-tails, and are gathered adoringly around their new brother, who's looking back up at them.

But social media users claim that the magic of the photo has been ruined by Steven's chosen caption, which many have deemed to be 'sexist' and 'sad'.

'Looks like his ironing and washing is sorted when he gets older,' the new dad wrote alongside the pic.

Though there are plenty of commenters who defended it as just 'a joke', arguing that people on social media take things too seriously and that 'feminism is a cancer', some commenters raised legitimate concerns that Steven was imparting a damaging mentality to his children.

'Mad love for you and all, but I can't say I condone my favourite footballer saying such things,' wrote one commenter.

'Please understand that your mentality directly affects your children's, surely you don't want the girls growing up to think they exist to serve men.'

Another said, 'That's a little insulting to the girls. Is their purpose only to iron and do the laundry? Can't they do anything else for their little brother aside from being his maid? I can't believe that you had 3 beautiful girls but you chose to belittle their role as sisters.'

'I hope your girls schooled you in how not to be a sexist in 2017!' wrote a third, and another said simply, 'So sad that a father thinks so small for their own daughters.'

So far the snap has gained over 2,500 comments with many from Spanish fans, given Steven's time playing for Inter Milan.

What do you think? Was Steven just having a laugh, or was he way out of line? Let us know in the comments!