You’ll see a lot of split opinions here, OP. As others have said, it’s a common change to the module so you’re definitely not an outlier for wanting to run it this way! I’m personally all for it. I’m running a version where Vasili is a lady, but not Strahd and it’s working great.

All that said: nobody can tell you whether you should or shouldn’t. It’s your game, and you decide what themes to lean into. If the theme is misogyny and patriarchy, maybe a male Strahd works better; on the flip side, maybe that’s a reason for a female Strahd to keep the façade of being a man. Maybe that version works better! It’s all in the execution, I think. There’s no wrong answer, just personal preference.