Regarding Rav Acha, I’ll try to get back to you with a proper response later; I’m a bit busy now
What I will answer for now is your question about the JO – it was a high-quality publication, which many rabbonim wrote for, but it’s not as if every single action done by every agudah askan or group is sanctioned directly by its moetzes. It could be the question never dawned on them to ask. At the time, I don’t think most frum people were at the point where shmiras aynayim was so important to them that pictures of women in publications was an issue.
I believe Torah judaism has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few decades. Awareness, learning, values, be’kamus and be’aichus is far more than it was years ago. Of course it’s nothing compared to the giants of torah in pre-war europe, but compared to what American Jewry was since its inception….the battle went from keeping Jews frum and not intermarrying, to the challenges of a totally committed, knowledgeable Jew.
The divide between the sincerely frum and the rest is far greater than it used to be. Most frum jews had a TV when the JO was at its peak; they were seeing women, and untznius women, everyday. Not to mention the mixed kiddushin, etc..