It is what you make of it. It doesn't necessarily have to fall with dom/sub dynamics. I personally prefer F/F, so may not be the best to answer this.

I don't like being dominated at all. I don't like domination. I just like strong girls, and being able to lift me is simply a demonstration of strength.

I guess it depends on you and your fantasy, right?

I don't think it must be domination, but to me, the appeal is very much from the domination aspect that the lifter can bring to it. For example, I love getting offered to be picked up by girls (I am not a big guy, and girls apparently find my build an ideal one to try and lift to benchmark their strength) because the very act of wanting to hold me close against her body and prevent the earth from pulling me back down is an act of domination which I thoroughly enjoy.
The very nature of a girl wanting to lift me, wanting my body to lean against her and hold on to her, and then executing that intention, is an act of domination I can't resist!

That being said, I understand that this is not the only perspective on lifting. The flipside can hold true as someone else mentioned in this thread - you could be the one dominating even as the one being lifted, but that paradigm appeals to me far less.