<p>Mass media present thinness as a beauty standard for young females, and there is concern about the negative effects on young females who internalize the media body ideal. One possibility is that preoccupation with thinness consumes cognitive resources that would otherwise be available for cognitive inhibition. Study 1 (<i>N</i> = 148) was an experiment in which female college students were presented with videos portraying either the media body ideal or landscapes. The media body ideal group showed significantly lower cognitive inhibition than the neutral group on a color-word Stroop task. Study 2 (<i>N</i> = 257) used images, rather than videos, to present the media body ideal or landscapes. Compared to participants who viewed images of landscapes, those who viewed images of the media body ideal reported higher body surveillance and, in turn, showed lower cognitive inhibition on a numerical Stroop task. Among participants who reported engaging in high versus low physical exercise, internalization of the media body ideal was less strongly associated with lower cognitive inhibition and higher body surveillance. The findings have practical implications for prevention and intervention programs to reduce the negative effects of internalization of the media body ideal among female college students.</p>