I did come across someone claiming that Lois Lane is "objectified" in Man of Steel. While I would agree they could have given her more of a role, I thought they did a good job of giving her a pretty big role.
I mean, she does figure out that Clark Kent is Superman. She proactively makes the decision not to reveal his secret. I think we could have seen more of Clark and Lois talking and less of the flashbacks, but Lois clearly makes decisions there.
She very much plays a role in recuing him from the spaceship, and is one of the key people in figuring out what to do against the world engine. While it is true that she gets saved by Superman on at least three occasions, she does seem to do as much as possible to save herself.
