I’m 19M, my girlfriend is 17F. We’ve been dating for almost a year now. Her family has no idea though, because she refuses to tell them; and it honestly hurts. My family loves her. Her family’s Muslim and she says that’s the reason she can’t tell them yet, but she will… eventually. I get that they’re Muslim, but come on, we live in the West and it’s a free country. I’ve never pressured her about it but it still upsets me.
I wanted to date a Muslim girl in high school. She said she couldn’t, because her father was “very strict and wouldn’t allow it.” We remained friends.
Conservative Muslims have a very different attitude towards religion than we in the West are used to. She may be in a free country, but she is not in a free home. She is not keeping you a secret out of shame or embarrassment.
You are not stupid for feeling upset, but you need to manage that feeling. She is keeping you a secret because telling her family would ruin her life. Learn to understand that, and enjoy what you have.