Like @Joseph Silber said, you can't really do that. Here is what I would do in a similar situation:
selectedElement.on('click', function(ev) {
// Alternatively, you could do $(this).is('[data-click]')
if ( ev.target.hasAttribute('data-click') ) {
clickHandler(ev);
}
});
That way you can still use your clickHandler
variable if that's what you're doing.