Who would have thought your "bubby" or "granny" or "nana" would condone masturbation? Much less even say the world, or even think about that "act" (definitely sinful "self-abuse," and so much more secret than that dreaded yet sinless marriage act that in order to endure one "should close one's eyes and think of England"). Everyone's Jewish grandmother, Ann Landers, whose popular columns often mirrored changes in social attitudes and norms, took a progressive stance in the late 70s.

By that time, the medical and psychological experts has pretty much adopted less judgmental and restrictive views about something that everyone, especially males, did. Anyone who denied pulling his pud ever would pretty much be outed as an obvious liar. Still, even if the more intellectually sophisticated classes would come to believe that masturbation was a healthy, even spiritual practice, most Americans could honestly call it the "act everyone does but no one speaks of." (Like the "[homosexual] love that dares not speak its name?".)  Thus, as late as 1993, Ann, by that time an iconic figure in American culture, citing experts to back up her views, felt the need to really tell Americans to "wake up and smell the coffee" on this issue.