Well,if you are 185 cm,then it's not only hard to find a girl taller than you,but even a guy who is taller than you. It's even hard for me,to find a girl who's taller at least 2 inches than me so the difference will be visable. Though i don't know in which country you live,and what's going on there...but here average girl height is 5'4" only!
Personally i find smaller lifting bigger F/M L&C more impressive in the eye,because it's surprising that she can lift someone twice her size,but yet not sexually attractive. On the other hand bigger lifting smaller F/M L&C is not such impressive because it's obvious that a tall and big girl,can lift a small dude,but it's a big turn on for me...for reasons i cannot explain.
Actually i'd say that L&C can be both innocent (for example when a man sits on a woman's shoulders in a concert) or dirty (when a woman carries a man in stradle style,and fucks him with a strap-on), It depends on the taste....personally i like both.
I guess they find it creepy, because it's not very common...but yet,i'm not absolutely sure about this,because there must be many people who are L&C fans,but they're shy to admit it.