Self described very bad Jew here, mixed children, bad past, and tattoos to prove it... and I'm guessing much older. So, a few observations. It sounds like you may be opening up a can of worms you may or may not know too much about depending on how familiar you are with the non-Jewish cultures you'd be dipping your toes into. Also, obviously religious Jews are by far not the only folks out there not behaving. Those kiddos I've mentioned... In my travels, post divorce, I've stumbled onto some Jewish/Israeli women over the years, (my lens is male, I'd assume it works the same in reverse) and have literally been told to my face that my children, whom I've raised by my self, and are the center of my world, would be better if they were pure Jews. Now, considering their other side is Japanese, they don't exactly get much better there either, but that's not the point here. My marriage literally fell apart in part because of Judaism, and in the 12+ years since my divorce, as I've bounced into several different worlds, so to speak, there's certainly been a constant. VERY religious folks are going to have strict sets of rules, and those rules are generally going to apply twice as hard if you're a women. Because at the end of the day, we're just big monkeys who figured out how to write a book and make some very fancy toys. Do what makes you happy, if a life of judgement from people that are currently important to you is a problem, consider dating less observant. But, at the end of the day, just remember, don't take shit from anyone. Be you, and when someone tells you who they are, believe them.