In my opinion, Maya Hansen's biggest problem is that she's a female character in the Marvel Universe.

She's the genius who invented Extremis. She could have used Extremis to make herself stronger, faster, healthier, even smarter. But to date, all of the Extremis test subjects we've seen are male. Mallen, Stark, Michael White, the unnamed "siblings" in Nebraska: all are male. No female character has reaped the benefits of the Extremis enhancile.

Also, despite her being a genius, she will never be recognized as one of the super-geniuses of the Marvel Universe, who are also all male. It doesn't matter if you're on the side of good (Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hank Pym) or evil (Doctor Doom, the Mad Thinker); in order to be a super-genius, you need a dick as well as a brain.

Maya will never be in charge of her own decisions. She will always be under some man's thumb, whether it's the Mandarin, Tony Stark, Jack Kooning or someone else.

Who should be approached to solve a problem with Extremis? If Maya Hansen were male, 'he' would always be the first one named.