>>1445>What kinds of rules do lay buddhists follow compared to monks?The laity aren't forced to follow any rules per se, it's merely expected that those participating as members of a sangha but the 5 precepts are the ideal for laity. They are:
1. I undertake the training to refrain from killing sentient beings.
2. I undertake the training to refrain from stealing.
3. I undertake the training to refrain from sexual immorality.
4. I undertake the training to refrain from telling lies.
5. I undertake the training to refrain from consuming intoxicants that cloud and poison the mind.
The primary issue of concern behind this precepts is kamma, or intent, and so following them is more about purifying the mind of ill-will rather than dogmatically following rules. Accidental killing, such as by stepping on a bug you didn't see, is not a violation of the 1st precept for example.
>I've also heard that buddhist doctrines see women as inferior/you will be reborn as a woman if you commit sins or something like that.There is a major issue with misogyny within traditional Buddhist structures, and the misogyny is unfortunately as old as the religion itself. The Buddha was hesitant in his time to ordain women despite them being just as capable of attaining nibbana as men precisely because misogyny was so bad in his time that it could threaten the existence of the sangha in the first place (AN 8.51). That is, the Buddha knew and stated that women were just as capable and worthy of attaining the deathless as men but that social convention was the only barrier, and yet the monastic and lay sangha has liked to ignore this fact and marginalize women through history in spite of the fact that they make up half of the sangha, the noble sangha and the mundane sangha both. And such an important element of the sangha they are as the composers of the Therigatha and Theriapadana and in preserving important verses from the Buddha such as in the Itivuttaka, bringing an important feminine perspective to the sangha and doing the same tireless work as their male counterparts if not more. Rebirth as male or female has nothing to do with kamma, except maybe for the fact that rebirth as female in some societies is made difficult by those in the society, unfortunately including some ignorant and spiteful Buddhists. I will also add to this that, even if we presume being born as a woman were indeed the result of negative kamma, the attitude of spite that some Buddhists take towards humans who are reborn in worse conditions than others is absolutely reprehensible. No noble Buddhist, no stream-entrant, no attainer of the first level of enlightenment, would take this approach of cruelty towards others for the effects of past-life kamma, or even current life kamma (MN 21 & MN 86). All of this is a long way to say, no, women are not seen as inferiors in the dhamma.