190 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL

nist movement and the sociological evolution of the concept
 “woman.” The original position of the woman was in
the home. She was absorbed in the family. Her special
functions, though common to all women, prevented her
from forming the large superordinated circle including all
women. Her functions kept her fully bound to the small
family group and led to an exclusive devotion to a few individuals.
 Her sociological position was that of an individual
 fully tied up in a small, highly individualized circle.
The modern industrial development has completely
changed this situation. Among the working classes, the
girl and the married woman have been drawn into the factory.
 The process for them has meant an external liberation
 from the complete absorption of the home. The same
changes have brought for the middle-class woman an internal
 liberation. A great number of activities formerly
carried out in the home have been taken over by industry,
and this has resulted for her in a greater freedom within
the home.
This difference in the results of industrialism for the
two social classes explains the difference in the immediate
practical aims of these groups of women. The first wants
to go back to the home, the second wants to go out of the
home; the first wants to be more a “family woman,” more
wife and mother, the second wants to be more a social
woman, more a political woman. But for both groups the
binding ties with the smaller circle have been dissolved.
The complete absorption in the small group has been abolished,
 and the barriers against a practical solidarity of
women have been removed. The concept “woman” is no
longer a purely logical and abstract concept. It has become
 a guiding principle for unitary associations including
all women, as Is manifest in the different branches of the
feminist movement. In these associations they can work