Not necessarily. There have been groups of Freemasons that included both men and women, and if I'm not mistaken, there have been all-female groups, as well. They are not necessarily recognized by the same governing bodies, however.
Just like other societies, there have been splinter groups.
Supposedly not, from what I've read. All of the rituals are public knowledge (so they say). It's pretty easy to come across a copy of "Duncan's Freemasonry" book. I have a copy and I'm certainly not a Freemason. What is supposed to be secret is the password to get into the lodge. So, if you don't know the password, you don't get in.
Not necessarily. There have been groups of Freemasons that included both men and women, and if I'm not mistaken, there have been all-female groups, as well. They are not necessarily recognized by the same governing bodies, however.
Just like other societies, there have been splinter groups.
Female groups are always managed by a male Freemason. This guy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aMoT_1zwqg - talks about it in one of his videos.
Hm, never knew that
Here's some sauce to go along with the above:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Freemasonry
If you scroll through this link, there is mention of all-female Freemasonry:
https://www.thesquaremagazine.com/mag/article/202005women-and-freemasonry/
Anyone can pretend to be a mason
Supposedly not, from what I've read. All of the rituals are public knowledge (so they say). It's pretty easy to come across a copy of "Duncan's Freemasonry" book. I have a copy and I'm certainly not a Freemason. What is supposed to be secret is the password to get into the lodge. So, if you don't know the password, you don't get in.