The women's movement is an uphill battle of Sisyphean proportions, with every step forward (the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) quickly negated by five steps back (the movie Bride Wars). I've been a feminist since I was old enough to be argumentative, but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the latest move by PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP). The parent company of Fritos, Doritos, and Lay's announced Thursday that it's launching its first snack food targeted specifically toward women. Uhh ... progress?

So, if Pepsi is right, the answer to Sigmund Freud's famous query, "What do women want?" is, "Popcorn." Seriously. The company plans to debut its new Smartfood popcorn clusters in March. The snack combines salty flavors with sweet, and -- prepare to be not at all shocked -- the popcorn clusters are low-calorie. You know, because we're all on diets and we hate our thighs.

When you think about it, corporations are no different than consumers. They see the economic writing on the wall, and they react to it accordingly. So it was no surprise when PepsiCo's (NYSE: PEP) CEO Indra Nooyi said she was down on beverage acquisitions in North America. Instead, she'd like to drive profits in an organic fashion. In my opinion, she's basically saying that she doesn't feel that the economy has hit a bottom yet and that she's got time to look around for prospects to add to her company's portfolio.

I think she's probably correct (if she actually is thinking along those lines), but I would add that, if a particularly compelling prospect came along, I wouldn't necessarily reject it in knee-jerk fashion just because the economy is one scary beast. Remember that PepsiCo, or any company for that matter, can buy other businesses for cheap valuations at the moment. Of course, those other businesses know that, and probably are holding off from putting themselves up on the block. So I do realize that being a value buyer in this climate is more complex than it appears to be at first glance.

She's also on the right track in terms of concentrating on growing internally. I don't think companies focus as much as they should on internal growth. As Nooyi pointed out, organic innovation can indeed be the more attractive economic alternative to pricey buyouts.

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Full disclosure: in the Pepsi challenge, I prefer Coke. In terms of investments, though, I overwhelmingly prefer PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). The shares have fallen hard from their January 2008 peak, but PepsiCo won some respect on the Street recently for fearlessly backing its 2008 earnings outlook -- rather than dramatically slashing it, which has become the latest trend among companies large and small.

In the U.S., firms that produce fizzy beverages, snacks, and convenience foods nearly qualify as defensive stocks. Just check out some of the workhorses in Pepsi's product line: Cheetos, 7 Up, Doritos, Aunt Jemima, Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Rice-A-Roni, Fritos, and Rold Gold pretzels. Not to diminish some of the greater accomplishments our country can claim, this list is comprised almost entirely of prepackaged American icons.

Of course, we live in a global economy, and PepsiCo knows it. While Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) has caught plenty of flack for environmentally unfriendly practices, Pepsi has been a corporate leader in the push for more "green" technologies ... which brings me to my affinity for Chairman and Chief Executive Indra K. Nooyi.

Even in a recession, people will "snack" themselves to the point of sugar highs so powerful that they will think the economy is still expanding. According to Reuters, "PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) expects its business based on "comfort foods" to be resilient to a U.S. economic slowdown, Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said on Wednesday."

The point is probably well-founded. Soda and chips are still something people can enjoy for a few dollars. And many people are addicted to the sugar and salt. And it makes Pepsi and rival Coke (NYSE: KO) effective hedges against a downturn.

Pepsi sells for just over $69 now, down from a 52-week high of almost $80. It has a yield of 2.1% and $2.2 billion in cash and short- term investments. The company has an operating margin of about 20%. In the last quarter, operating income was $2.1 billion on revenue of $10.2 billion. Coke's financial dynamics look about the same.

All in all, this makes these stocks "safe" bets if the markets continue to fall.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Indra Nooyi isn't even officially begun her new role as CEO of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), and already she's shaking things up. On Friday Pepsi announced Nooyi would be promoting John Compton to CEO of PepsiCo North America, effective immediately. The promotion is only part of a reorganization that morphs Pepsi into two separate divisions, both reporting directly to Nooyi: PepsiCo International and PepsiCo North America.

Bank of America analyst Bryan Spillane likes Compton in the role, but according to the Wall Street Journal [subscription required], said that Pepsi's "talent glut" might mean other executives would begin to grumble about their relative paucity of promotions and responsibilities.

Compton's background is notable for his ability to manage disparate organizations; he was responsible for the integration of Quaker Oats into PepsiCo following the 2001 merger. Nooyi won't be officially his boss until October 1, when she takes over from outgoing CEO Steven Reinemund.

My best girlfriend from business school, Jaime, just announced that she was quitting her job as a management consultant and taking a position at PepsiCo in the corporate strategy department. Evidently she's not the only smart, financially savvy woman PepsiCo values; today, the beverage giant announced that current CFO Indra K. Nooyi would be taking over as CEO effective October 1, when current chief Steven Reinemund steps down from the position "to spend more time with his family." He'll be retiring in May, and will continue as Chairman of PepsiCo's board until then.

Indra will join 10 other women currently in the CEO position at Fortune 500 companies (by market capitalization, she'll be the second-most important, behind Patricia Woertz at ADM). Analysts seem to be roundly thrilled, calling Nooyi a "star" (Citigroup's Bonnie Herzog) and marking this promotion as an indication there is "enough to keep Ms. Nooyi interested at Pepsi" (Bank of America's Bryan Spillane).

I see it as no coincidence that a valued friend would move to the company at the same time an obviously brilliant woman takes over the CEO role. This can only mean good things for Pepsi. Investors seem to be cheering, too, and have sent the stock up 57 cents to $63.90 so far today, within pennies of a 52-week (and, in fact, all-time) high.

Sarah Gilbert has a Wharton MBA and worked in investment banking for several years, then at a series of increasingly edgy startups before finding her calling, producing blogs for AOL. She doesn't own stock in Pepsi.