Mayella is the oldest daughter in the Ewell family. With no mother, she is forced to assume that role. Having grown up in this family and isolated from the rest of Maycomb in most ways, this is the reality she has been presented with and therefore has accepted. She has learned to live with her father's abuse and feels stuck in this role of being his subservient while also being a mother to her other siblings. In some ways, she feels like she is their protector.
She is lonely and isolated and this is why she reaches out to Tom Robinson. Had she been male, Mayella would not have to fill the role of mother to and protector of the Ewell siblings. She would have had some opportunity to go out and find work. Whether it paid well or not, being a male would afford her more opportunities to get out of that house and its abusive atmosphere.
As Atticus questions Mayella during the trial, Scout relates some things they learn about her. Her father tends to use their relief money for alcohol. Sometimes he would go off into the swamp for days, leaving her to care for the children. The children were constantly sick because of the dirty living conditions. Being the eldest daughter, it falls upon her to be some kind of mother to her family. She is stuck in this role and that's why she feels powerless.
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