Contrary to popular belief, Artemis did not hate all men. She didn't even hate most boys. There was a fine line, a boundary that most didn't see or understand that divided the good from the bad. When she saw a man, the hailed man-hater could see the pains he caused young women but, at the same time, she could also see what joy he had inspired.
She didn't hate Percy Jackson, truly. He may have been a boy about to become a man but, at the same time, he was as innocent as a boy could be. He hadn't intentionally caused a maiden pain and the pain he did cause was more derived from his stupidity or lack of attention than anything else.
There was something else about Jackson, though, that went beyond the normal "I don't immediately hate you." It wasn't the way that Annabeth felt about him or the irrational distaste he garnered from Zoe.
It took her hours to understand why she had to look twice at him when she first judged him. Her curiosity encouraged her to allow boys into her camp for the first time in decades.
When the understanding struck, it hit like a thunderbolt.
It had all started as a social experiment after World War II. It's purpose? Discover if-and when-in a young boy's life does he become a man. Would that stage happen at the same time? What contributed to it? Did some boys become men faster than others and why?
Artemis was determined to find answers. The 'when' bit was easy. It only made sense that the change from boyhood starts, as one might expect, at puberty. The teen years were just as formative as the younger years, for it was then that a boy learned important social graces, including how he treats a lady.
Some boys entered puberty early but the quick changes seemed to increase aggression on a wide scale. The need to compete and out-man each other grew with the level of testosterone in a room.
Others were the exact opposite. By entering puberty later, a handful of boys managed to be almost docile in nature. Quiet, quirky, weird-these boys were a different sort but bad in their own ways. Odd ones had strange ideas. A lack of female attention in mid teens could have disastrous effects on the boys self worth, which made him no good. Or it entailed him to objectify women as, in his youth, women were unattainable objects to the man. He might treasure them but no woman deserved to be a plaything.
So what was the point of it all?
That was easy enough. If a man was raised in the right conditions, he might be almost good enough to deserve a woman. While Artemis was very opposed to men as a whole, she was willing to concede that a few women needed to condescend in order to keep the population going. It was her intention, then, to ensure that those brave women would only get the best of the best.
And so the experiments began.
There were many different experiments that changed as the decades rolled by. After WWII ended, Artemis was sad to see that chivalry, as the mortals called it, seemed to be on the decline. Strong mothers made fearful boys who turned into respectful men-that was the pattern. As women became less dominant in society, less respected, they became weaker mothers, though. That had to change.
Her attention went away from the boys, at that point, and returned to the women. A blessing here or there, a moment of inspired strength, and Artemis encouraged women to put the fear of gods back into their boys.
She chose a handful of women who caught her eye to pour strength into. It was only fate, or perhaps sheer luck, that landed her sights on Sally Jackson. Sally would have made a good hunter if Artemis had gotten to her sooner but some things simply aren't meant to be. Artemis may have lost Sally to the world of boys and love but, in that loss, she provided a brave woman with an almost worthy man.